Paranormal
by DemonHeart42
Summary: Darkness lies at the back of the mind waiting for the right moment to overtake you and drag you into its depth. It connects us to a world we try so hard to pretend does not exist, but when it comes knocking we have no choice but to answer its call. The only question is, will you let it take you or fight for your freedom?
1. Prologue

The wind howls as it rushes through the air while ripping leaves from tree branches and scattering them, leaving crunching trails for passersby to walk over. A full moon casts dancing figures in the darkness underneath the twisted branches of

The wind howls through the air while ripping leaves from tree branches and scattering them across the ground, leaving a crunching trail for passersby to walk over. A full moon casts dark ominous shadows to dance underneath the twisted branches of the bare trees. Shadows that watch late night trick-or-treaters and partygoers already beginning their way back to the safety of their own homes. Everyone, except the stragglers wandering the streets and looking for trouble.

* * *

**Prologue**

_POV: Narrator_

_Dislaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_Welcome lovelies! _

_I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

"Ugh… Where're we goin?" the teenage girl with long white hair asks while leaning heavily into her partner, "We've been walking for _hours_!" she complains drunkenly while staggering side to wide and waving her heels in the air.

"Sorano, are you too drunk to remember?" A boy with tanned skin and spiky maroon hair asks sarcastically over his shoulder. Sorano simply gives him a dumb look, which makes him roll his eyes, "We're going to the haunted mansion dimwit," Erick, the boy in question, says while continuing to walk forward.

"What the hell did you call me?!" Sorano shrieks while attempting to charge forward before her partner stops her from falling flat on her face.

"Angel, quit fooling around," Sawyer grumbles as the girl who is dressed in and angel costume, "You're going to fall and get hurt and you can't blame me if you do," Sawyer warns while fixing Sorano's dainty arm around his shoulder so he can support her, "How much farther Macbeth?"

"Just a few more blocks," Macbeth, the gothic of the group, responds from the back of the group.

"We shoulda driven there," Sorano slurs a complain while turning to look at the oldest member of the group walking silently behind them, "What's the point of havin you be our designated driver if you're not even going to drive, huh Richard?!"

Richard, the man in question, apologizes softly to her, "The road has too many potholes around here. The car would never make it to the mansion without losing a tire, and I doubt you want to push the car all the way back into the city," Richard states making Sorano give him a face.

They all continue walking through the moonlit path and bickering with one another when Macbeth stops to turn and look behind him into the darkness at a figure walking towards him.

"If you don't hurry you're going to get left behind," he then says while holding out his hand, causing the figure to pick up their pace.

"Sorry," the girl emerging from the shadows apologizes sheepishly as she races to cease Macbeth's hand and allows him to lead her towards where the others were now further away. "Are we almost there?" she asks once she's securely beside Macbeth who releases her hand to wrap his arm around her cold shoulders.

Macbeth looks down at the golden-haired girl who looks around them nervously while leaning further into the boy who squeezes her shoulder reassuringly.

"Scared?" he asks while smiling sweetly down at her. Not at all condescending or sarcastically as the others would have looked at her if she revealed that she was actually terrified.

"A bit," the girl admits while biting her lip when she hears something rustling in a nearby bush, "Did we really have to go see the haunted mansion?" she then asks him with a grimace.

"Unfortunately," Macbeth sighs while looking ahead at his friends, "I'm sorry for having to drag you along. I didn't mean for my friends to peer-pressure you into joining us, but I swear they're great people once you get to know them," Macbeth apologizes, "I promise that once these idiots get their fill I'll take you straight home," he then promises, enjoying the way the girl beams like a star at his gentleness.

"Ok," She says sweetly while wrapping her own arm around his waist to let him lead her towards where the group had finally stopped walking.

Looking down at the girl from the corner of his eye, Macbeth still can't believe that such a beautiful girl would have ever accepted to date him. Sure, they weren't officially boyfriend and girlfriend just yet, but he hoped that with time they would be. Especially since they both seemed to get along very well, in fact, Macbeth secretly preferred her company over that of his rambunctious friends.

Macbeth can remember meeting Lucy for the first time when she transferred to his school at the beginning of the year. He'd never been interested in any of the girls at his school, but Lucy Heartfilia had been an exception. She was beautiful with sun-kissed hair and melting chocolate eyes he swore he could stare into forever, and when he had told his group of friends about her they never believed she existed. That or she would never turn to look his way because of the dark and mysterious way he dressed, but they were all wrong.

Imagine Macbeth's surprise when Lucy approached _him_ first after she caught him reading Shakespeare's _Much Ado About Nothing_ in the deepest corner of the library where hardly anyone ever went to.

"That's a frustrating play," she had said while peering over his shoulder to see what act the boy was currently on, causing him to jump in alarm, "All the characters, especially Claudio, tend to be so easily manipulated by a man that everyone knows to be a villain only wanting to cause trouble. The misunderstanding that happens throughout the play is the frustrating factor that almost causes Claudio to lose the love of his life. It's so… annoying," she says with a shake of her head before then meeting Macbeth's startled eyes, "My name is Lucy by the way," she then greeted.

Since that day Macbeth had met with Lucy in the abandoned corner of the library during their lunch breaks. Talking about literature that they found fascinating and discussing books they were currently reading like their own personal book club. It felt like a breath of fresh air for Macbeth because he had never been able to get his friends into reading literature rather than the comics Sawyer liked to read. Not to mention that neither one of Macbeth's friends would be caught dead in a library when they had their own reputations to uphold.

Macbeth was the intellect of the group, not them.

"Hurry up love-birds!" Erick calls out to the duo who were still a bit way away from the rest of the group, "We need to make this quick before the fuzz does their rounds."

"Coming," Macbeth growls while pulling Lucy along so that they finally reach the group who are all looking through the rusted iron bars of the abandoned gate that leads into the haunted grounds of the infamous Phantom Lord mansion.

"These gates are HUGE!" Sorano shrieks while extending her hands high above her before she stumbles backwards and lands on her butt. Laughing hysterically while Sawyer and Erick try to help the drunken woman to her feet while she continues to wave her hand that held her heels and a bottle of beer she hadn't been holding before "Ooh!" Sorano then exclaims when finally on her feet, "Let's get a closer look!" she then says ecstatically while looking at the others around her.

No one can say no to her before she starts climbing the ten-foot stone wall after placing her shoes and bottle on the other side of the gate. For a drunk teenager, she easily scrambles up the wall by using the thick ivy hanging down as a rope to help her climb. The others, unable to get her to return climb after her in a hurry as she retrieves her heels and drink before skipping up the curving driveway lined with dead, twisted trees.

"I need to make sure that the others get Sorano back safely. Do you want to wait for me here?" Macbeth asks Lucy before climbing over the wall after his friends.

Lucy has half a mind to say yes that she'd wait but looking around at the empty cold street doesn't bode well with her. What would she do if someone came along asking her why she was alone? The last thing she wanted was to rat out her new friends or get in trouble with the law which would not bode well with her father.

"I'll go," Lucy then exclaims while beginning her climb hastily up the wall.

Macbeth helps her as best he can so that she doesn't fall and catches her on the other side so that she doesn't get hurt on her descent. Before they know it, they are then making their way up the winding road where the others had already disappeared down. Lucy remains close to Macbeth when she notices that the twisted old trees looked as if they had expressions of anguish on them. Their branches looking as if they wanted snatch them up and rip them to shreds.

"This place gives me the creeps," Erick says while pulling off his snake charmer's hat to scratch his head as he stares up at the crumbling building before them.

"Shcared Coobra?" Sorano coos while leaning into the boy before cackling eccentrically at his disgusted face.

"Piss off Angel," Erick shoots while gently shoving her away so that she wasn't leaning on him anymore.

"Is it true that this place is haunted?" Lucy asks while looking up at the grime covered windows that had cracks or holes in the glass.

"That's what rumor says," Richard says, speaking up for the first time throughout their walk, while eyeing the windows with a curious eye, "But it's never been proven."

"Lame," Sorano exclaims while downing the last of her drink in one go, "Let's do something interesting!" she then suggests while waving her bottle in the air suggestively.

"Not another one of your dares," Sawyer deadpans while watching the girl crouch down to place the bottle on a somewhat even part of the ground.

Sorano shoots him a glare before waving everyone to make a circle around her that everyone quickly obeys without complaint. Although having expressions of uneasiness should be a sign of a complaint as everyone fidgets nervously while Sorano continues to set up her bottle.

"I'm gonna spin the bottle and whoever it picks hasta walk into the cr… creepy mansion," Sorano explains through a burp while pointing at the slightly open doorway with an evil glint in her eye nearly drowned by the alcohol she had consumed, "Failure to comply will lead in a punishment."

"What punishment?" Erick asks begrudgingly while crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently.

"Try not to find out~" Sorano says in a sing-song voice.

Before Erick can complain again, Sorano spins the bottle as everyone's breath hitches as six pairs of eyes watch the bottle spin. The tension in the air growing as everyone begins to fidget uncomfortably while the bottle continues to spin.

_~Come play~_

_~Come play with us~_

Tearing her eyes away from the spinning bottle, Lucy looks up in the direction of the mansion where she thought she had heard something. She looks around, unable to find anything around the building when a collective gasp returns her attention to the bottle pointing. Straight. At. HER!

Five pairs of eyes look up at the stunned victim staring at the bottle pointing at her like a death sentence, and the thought only leaves a cold chill running up and down her back. As if death's icy finger were running a line down her spine and taunting her with something horrible possibly happening.

"Ooh, sho the new girl got chosen, huh?" Sorano claps while receiving a glare from Macbeth.

"Sorry princess looks like you ain't so lucky tonight," Sawyer says, and the comment leaves a bad taste in Lucy's mouth. Especially because she was always called Lucky-Lucy by everyone back home.

"Leave her alone," Macbeth growls while taking Lucy's hand in his and turning her so that she's looking straight at him, "You don't have to do the dare Lucy. I'll do it for you…"

Sorano makes a disagreeing sound while pointing two thumbs down, "No, no, no, tha's not how this works Midnight, and you know it," she says while placing a lot of emphasis on the last four words, "Prinshess is picked, prinshess does the dare. No take backsies or switchies."

Lucy's head swims while Macbeth continues to try to figure out how to get her out of this situation and regrets bringing Lucy along. He had only wanted to impress her and get her friends to accept her into their group. He should have known that something like this was going to happen, and if Lucy went into the mansion Sorano would undoubtedly do something to scare her to the point she would never want to talk to him again.

_Why'd you have to allow yourself to get carried along again Macbeth?!_

"Don't get your panties in a twist you two," Erick says while stepping up and patting a hand on Macbeth's back, "All blondie has to do is go up the steps and take a few steps through the door and that's it. Simple, right Angel?"

"Yeah I guess," Sorano sighs while lying on the ground beside where Sawyer was standing, "I'll let it go if she just does that. I swearsies."

Lucy looks up at Macbeth wondering what he'll say. He has a strange expression on his face, one mixed with uncertainty and annoyance before turning into defeat that he gives her, and Lucy instantly understands that he can't do anything to defend her.

Although she hasn't been in school with them for long, except Richard who was already in college, Lucy had learned rather quickly how the hierarchal structure of the school worked. Angel ruled supreme and her friendship with the other males meant that they were all equally respected amongst the student body and never messed with. One wrong move and either one of them could ruin the lives of anyone they wanted to, a feat Sorano had already done to many going so far as to make one's life a living hell to the point that they had to transfer to a completely different school.

This Lucy had heard around school as well as warned when discovered by other students that she was hanging around Macbeth during lunch and sometimes after school. A few girls in her class had told her to be careful, that although Macbeth was nice enough to talk to her he would never fully be in her corner. He would never choose anyone else over his friends for fear of losing them and being condemned an outsider. Especially since the group, who called themselves the Oracien Seis even when there was only technically four of them, had been with each other since they were children.

With this, Lucy knew that if she didn't do this "simple" task she'd be listed on Sorano's black list and be ostracized from the rest of the school, not that Lucy had many friends to begin with. However, she knew that if she failed to comply Macbeth would never be her friend again, and Lucy did not want that.

"I'll do it," Lucy sighs shakily, looking down at the ground and feeling her heart hammer in her chest as Macbeth takes her hand in his.

"I'm sorry," Macbeth murmurs to her, sounding so desperately guilty that she can't get herself to look at him while he squeezes her hand.

"I'll be ok… it's just an empty house," Lucy reasons, more for her own sake than his, before releasing her hold on him and turning towards the ominous building before her.

Taking a tentative step forward, Lucy braces herself before she gathers her courage and marches forward with purpose. This earns her a few whoops of excitement from the others who cheer the shaking blonde on. It seems to work because Lucy no longer staggers as she climbs the crumbling front steps towards the slightly open door.

Once at the top of the steps Lucy pushes the door to further open it and it swings on its hinges slowly with an eerie creek echoing throughout the inside of the house.

Not taking a moment to allow the shifting shadows inside the abandoned building to make her lose face, Lucy marches through the doorway to stand in the middle of the foyer. She looks around at the many paintings hanging on the wall of people she doesn't know and stares in awe at the impressive chandelier hanging over her head. It isn't long before she realizes that this place isn't as scary as she made it out to be. In fact, the foyer looked rather beautiful and ethereal bathed in moonlight pouring in through the doorway and floor to ceiling windows.

"You did it!" the blonde hears someone cheer behind her and she is surprised to find that it is Sorano congratulating her. Clapping her hands erratically from where she's still on the ground.

"Your girl ain't too bad," Sawyer says while lightly hitting Macbeth's back who can't keep his eyes off the smiling blonde who slowly makes her way through the foyer and back to the entrance.

He finally releases a sigh of relief knowing that Lucy had passed a difficult task that she was forced to do and couldn't wait to finally get her home and away from his drunk friends. He was also relieved that Sorano had seemed to accept the blonde from the way she continuously cheered Lucy for doing something so simple yet terrifying. It gave Macbeth hope that Lucy would be welcomed into their circle of friends, which meant that she would be safe from being picked on by anyone else in school. A feat he hadn't been blind to in recent weeks where girls in Lucy's class kept poking fun at her for not having many friends.

"Let's go home Lucy," Macbeth says while reaching the steps and climbing them to meet the blonde at the doorway.

Lucy smiles and reaches out to grab his hand, but instantly freezes and turns to look over her shoulder.

_~But you are home~_

"Lucy?" Macbeth asks, taking a step forward. Concerned as to what it was that Lucy was looking at behind her while shaking furiously in fear.

"Macbeth!" is all she gets to say while giving him a terrified expression before the door closes between them and a bloodcurdling scream fills the air.

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***_Please read Author's Note for important information*_**

**Welcome my lovely demon children to a re-upload of my story Paranormal! It's now back and better than ever!**

**If you are new WELCOME! If you are returning readers WELCOME BACK!**

**I am really excited to return with this revamped version of my spooky story I started back in 2015 but never really got around to finishing. It mostly had to do that I began writing it on a whim and realized I had no idea where I was going with this story, but after finishing S.T.S.O.F -**_which is another rewritten story you all can check out if you haven't yet - _**I decided to give this story another go.**

**Also, because this is my attempt at a horror story, be prepared for many cliffhangers... you have been warned~**

**Anywho, for those of you who have been with me for a long while we'll be doing things just a tad differently this year. I have developed an updating schedule in which I will be updating weekly save for the first week of the month - **_not including bonus chapters which I try to sprinkle in while I can - _**this means you'll get three updates per month. This means that the week of February 3 you will not get an update until the week of February 10.**

**Now for the fun part, you as my readers get to decide what day I'll be updating, Monday or Friday. Please leave in the reviews which day you would prefer and the one with the highest votes will be the day I will be updating. I'll be uploading chapter 1 this Friday with the results and any more information.**

**Also, if you guys already aren't, follow me on Instagram! I'm planning on being more active on there this year so if you all have any questions, comments, concerns you can also contact me through there - **_info in bio - _**and that is where I'll also be posting any news that comes up regarding uploads, or even writing tips for those of you aspiring to either write your own work or improve that which you have already been working on.**

**Let's make this new adventure a memorable one!**

**Until next time lovelies!**


	2. Chapter 1

_"And after entering the haunted mansion, the door suddenly closed behind her and she was never seen again… And to this day, people say that if you look through the windows of the old Phantom Lord mansion, you can see the missing girl still trying to find her way out~"_

The room around the raven-haired male is silent. A mixture of gaping faces stare at the teen in awe, incredulity, or plain skepticism, all while he smugly smiles from the reaction he got out of scaring a few of his friends, two which were trembling furiously.

"Is… is that really a true story Grey?" Lisanna, the youngest of the group, asks with wide fearful eyes.

"Could be," Grey says simply while sitting back in his seat, "I heard the story floating around from the upperclassmen who say it really did happen recently."

"I think I've heard this story before," Cana says while pulling her long brown hair up into a high ponytail, "It sounds really familiar."

A few of the older members of the group of dozen mull over the story, feeling as if they really had heard the story before. It sounded familiar, but none of them could figure out from where they had heard it.

"Who knows," Grey says while settling in his seat and stacking his hands behind his head, "It's just a story made up to scare kids," he then says and everyone else nods it off to mull around the room and pull out their homework to finish it for the day.

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**Chapter 1**

_POV: Narrator_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

* * *

"Natsu!" Lisanna chirps while bounding across the room to sit next to her drowsy friend who looked like he couldn't keep his eyes open for much longer, "What did you think about the story? Wasn't it spooky?" she asks excitedly while rubbing away the goosebumps on her arms.

Obsidian eyes turn from looking out the window listlessly to meet crystal azure eyes that look back expectantly.

"What?" the boy in question asks, confused, while he tries to catch his brain that doesn't seem to be able to get a grasp on his surroundings.

Lisanna gets a twinge of worry at Natsu's lackluster response. Now that she thinks about it, Natsu hadn't been showing his usual chaotic energy that always left her laughing. Instead he had been quiet all day and hadn't even picked a fight with any of the other students which was very odd since Natsu loved to fight.

Right now, however, Natsu seemed almost as if nothing around him mattered. He seemed to be lacking his usual fighting spirit which worried Lisanna even more.

"Natsu… is everything alright?" Lisanna then asks while pressing the back of her hand to Natsu's forehead to check if he was sick.

It's warm, warm enough to be a fever, but Lisanna knows that Natsu naturally burns like a furnace. The only way she can tell that he's sick is if his skin literally burns her lightly, but right now it didn't. It was just comfortably warm which was odd since Natsu looked so downcast.

Blinking at the girl with her hand pressed to her forehead, Natsu blinks a few times, as if his eyes were adjusting, and suddenly seems to recognize his best friend before him.

"Oh, hey Lisanna. What's up?" Natsu asks jovially when he notes the girl's worried expression.

"Natsu…" she groans, and he immediately tenses up, recognizing the tone she uses on him when she's either very worried or about to reprimand him, "What's wrong?" she then asks while standing up straight and placing her hands on her hips, "You've been acting weird all day and it's really starting to worry me."

"Weird?" Natsu asks while leaning back in his seat, "Have I been acting weird?" His thoughts then remind him on why he's been rather scatter-brained all day and his happy demeanor dims a bit while he hurriedly says, "It's… it's nothing Lis."

Lisanna puffs up her cheeks, annoyed at his answer which leaves him worried that he might have offended her. Her stubborn expression that tells him she wouldn't let this subject go that easily leaves him deflating a bit in his seat. He runs his hand down his face tiredly and then rubbing the back of his neck. A nervous tick Lisanna had discovered he had when they were kids.

It either meant he was tired, shy, or about to tell a lie.

"Don't worry about it Lis, it really ain't nothing," Natsu reassures her while rubbing the back of his neck again and avoiding eye contact, "I just couldn't sleep last night 's all," he then murmurs while staring up at the ceiling of the club room.

Natsu wants to say more, to go into detail about what was really bothering him, but he just can't seem to find the words to say what happened. It's as if whatever happened last night didn't want to come to light and remain a secret, which was stupid because Natsu didn't keep secrets. Not as long as he didn't have to. Instead he just feels conflicted on finding how to open up and tell Lisanna what was bothering him which was insane because Natsu had never before struggled to talk to her short-haired girl. She was his best friend for crying out loud!

"Is… is something wrong with your dad?" Lisanna then asks, bringing Natsu back from his mental debate, and almost regrets asking because she knows that Natsu's dad is a topic he doesn't like talking about.

"My dad?" Natsu asks dumbly, letting the information process through his head at the question, "No… no my dad's doing fine. Doctor says that he's in stable condition and doing great," Natsu continues, relieving Lisanna when he doesn't automatically shut down from the question and Natsu doesn't miss the soft sigh of relief she gives, "Really Lis… I'm fine. Ya don't have to worry about me all the time, besides, ya know I'd tell ya if something were wrong," he reassures her but she still gives him a skeptical look.

"Then why do you look so tired?"

"I stayed up with my dad again last night," Natsu lies and this seems to appease Lisanna a bit since she knew he tended to do that a lot.

However, Natsu felt bad for lying because last night Natsu had not been with his dad. Instead he had roamed around his empty house all night after having a recurring nightmare that came to him every night.

It came in the form of long dark corridors that never seemed to end. So dark that the item casting light in his hand, the light source changed every night, could only light a few steps ahead of him, leaving the rest of the hallway dark and foreboding.

Nothing ever popped out to him in the darkness, but that never meant that he wasn't left on edge. As if one day some kind of gruesome creature would finally pop out at him and drag him into the darkness where he would no longer emerge from, but that never happened.

Usually his dreams were uneventful, leaving him walking aimlessly through the darkness for what felt like hours, but there were a few times where he would find himself running. He never knew from _what_ exactly he was running from, but deep in his gut he knew that if he stopped he'd be doomed. This left him pumping his legs harder while his source of light waved erratically through the darkness and his blood rushed furiously in his ears making it hard to hear anything around him. He'd then wake up drenched in sweat in the middle of the night, feeling as if he had run a marathon, and find that once his heart rate slowed to a normal beat he could no longer find sleep which him waiting impatiently for the sun to finally rise so he could go about his day.

Natsu, however, wasn't scared of the nightmares, instead he was scared of what might be hidden in the lingering darkness, waiting to snatch him up, that he finds himself terrified of. In fact, he'd come to accept the nightmares as a part of himself from how long and often he's had them. Natsu honestly couldn't remember the last time he had gone to sleep without having the same dream every night to the point that he would just simply let the dreams be, even when he would wake up in the middle of the night and remain unable to fall back asleep. A feat that was quickly taking a toll on him.

"Have the doctors said anything new about your dad?" Lisanna then asks, bringing Natsu back from his reverie.

"Same news as always. They don't know if he'll ever wake up," Natsu grumbles, suddenly feeling furious at the repetitive response he gets from the people caring for his comatose father.

Three months ago, exactly a day after his birthday, Natsu's father had gotten into a motor-vehicle accident that left him in a coma. Natsu had seen the whole incident happen right in front of his eyes as he watched his father driving up to pick him up when he was suddenly slammed by a drunk driver. The whole incident had played out like a slow movie and all he could do was watch, paralyzed where he stood beside Erza who had been with him.

Erza had been a great support system through the whole ordeal. Keeping Natsu in check when the ambulance finally arrived to the scene and rushed Igneel to Magnolia General Hospital where Igneel now remained. She had even comforted the pinkette as he bawled his eyes out in the waiting room for hours that they didn't have any news until it was finally revealed that Igneel was safe but in a coma.

Now Natsu visited his father every other day, staying there with him during weekends and a few times during the week. Natsu would probably stay there every night if doctor Porlyusica didn't always send him home because it was a "school night" and Natsu needed his rest. All the while Natsu's aunt was taking care of the legal matters out of Natsu's hands so he could focus on school while she remained in Peace Village where she lived with her youngest child.

This left Natsu to fend for himself with his older cousin, Grandeen's oldest child, visiting him so often from Onibus where he was currently going to college. However, Natsu knew that the real reason Jellal ever went to visit him was only to see Erza, his girlfriend.

Feeling himself grow somber, Natsu tries to liven himself up by giving Lis a reassuring smile, but the smile doesn't reach his eyes and Lisanna only grows more worried for her friend. Natsu decides to ignore her pained looks by reaching into his own bag and pulling out his own homework to work on knowing that if Erza saw him slacking off the senior would surely rip him a new one. Especially if he allowed his grades to slip.

Not saying another word, Lisanna sits down beside Natsu and pulls out her own homework. Slowly the others in the club room bring out their own work, waiting silently until the bell rang to end their lunch break. All the while Natsu tries to drown himself in his work before his eyes wander back towards the window to stare at a passing cloud. His mind filled with the previous night's nightmare that left him a bit worried, especially since it had been so different than the normal nightmares he had.

It had once again been one of those dreams where he suddenly found himself running down the long corridors. Behind him he could feel the familiar presence of the darkness chasing him, reaching out and trying to grasp him like always. The one new thing about the dream this time that other than the sound of his rushing blood filling his ears he could also hear what sounded like childish laughter, and what sounded like rattling wood.

Before him, the swinging light from his flashlight hardly illuminates his path as Natsu continued to run blindly. He ran until his foot got caught on a fallen object that left him sprawling on the ground causing the laughing behind him to intensify. Hearing the voices even closer now, Natsu tried to stand up and run but found his shoe laces somehow tied around the legs of the chair making it hard for him to flee. As he tried to set himself free, Natsu had looked up into the darkness, slightly illuminated by his flashlight, and saw a bone-white hand emerge from the darkness that froze him in place.

"RUN!"

Without warning, a large object flew over Natsu's head and crashed into the object hidden in the darkness that Natsu could not see. This caused the hand nearing his face to retract while he was forcibly pulled to his feet, his shoes being pulled off and forgotten, before he was dragged down the corridor.

Natsu tried to keep up with his savior who continued to drag him through the darkness without any sign of slowing down.

"Hey flame brain, let's go," Grey calls while slapping the back of Natsu's head, bringing him back to the present.

Obsidian eyes blink a few times, realizing that the bell signaling the end of lunch had just rang and everyone around him had already put their things away. He also catches the look Lisanna gives him, noticing that she would not drop the subject of his daydreaming and odd behavior which meant he'd eventually have to talk to her and tell her about his nightmares.

"I'm coming," Natsu mutters while shoving his books into his backpack before swinging the bag onto his shoulder and following his friends out of the club room while recalling the last part of his dream as he follows his friends to their next class absent-mindedly.

The last thing Natsu had remembered before waking up at the usual hour of three in the morning was the sight of long blonde hair that was tied into a neat braid that covered what he assumed was a girl's back. Through the chaos he had even noticed that she was dressed strangely as she held onto him for dear life with her cool hand nearly comforting Natsu through their run. It wasn't until she rushed through a door and allowed bright sunlight to brighten everything around them that Natsu found himself waking up and being unable to thank his savior.

Closing his tingling hand into a fist at his side, Natsu shakes his head and tries to keep his mind focused while a single questioned swam through his head.

Who was that girl?

* * *

**Welcome back lovelies!**

**Here is chapter 1 just as promised and I really hope you all enjoyed the new changes. Also, due to popular demand I will be updating on Fridays, so expect our weekly chapters on those days unless it changes in the future.**

**Reminder that I update weekly so chapter 2 will be out Friday, January 24, so look out for that.**

**Shout outs**

**I want to give out a great amazing thanks to my new story Favorites...**

**\- bahall1964**

**\- Loore1990**

**To my new story Followers...**

**\- Shaula78**

**\- bahall1964**

**\- Loore1990**

**\- Crissdragon**

**And to my new story Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- Meow Orbit = Welcome back! And duly noted!**

**\- takeagamble27 = Fridays it is then, and I'm so happy to hear your excitement for my new story!**

**\- Guest = Heard you loud and clear!**

**Well that's all the shout outs for today**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	3. Chapter 2

The sound of the whistle creates a wave of squeaking shoes to suddenly stop. Student in the middle of their dodgeball game all turn to look at the coach whose eyes are trained to a certain individual. He waits patiently for that individual to turn their distracted gaze towards them and blink in confusion as to why the game had been stopped, not realizing that his stray dodgeball had hit the coach in the back of his head.

Without a word, coach Mine jerks his chin towards the bleachers in a silent demand that Natsu begrudgingly follows. He knows the silent command by heart with this not being the first or last time he gets sent to the bleachers for hitting the coach with a thrown projectile. It was almost as if everything Natsu ever threw was locked onto the old man's head, causing him to get hit repeatedly. Thankfully Natsu never got sent to detention for it, since he never tried to hit the coach on purpose.

Natsu notices a few of his friends chuckling at his blunder like the idiots they were, but he gets even by punching Gray in the side while Wakaba wasn't watching. The punch leaves Natsu feeling a hundred times better, especially when he jumps out of the way when Gray tries to take a swipe at him. Thankfully the whistle sounds again forcing Gray to get his head back in the game while Natsu makes his way to the bleachers far enough away that a stray ball can't hit him from a certain individual.

Once seated and watching the rest of his class play, Natsu suddenly feels a wave of exhaustion hit him. It makes his head hurt and he tries to liven up the pain by rubbing his temples gently, but the light throb refuses to ease up. The constant sound of squeaking shoes and bouncing balls or the occasion yell doesn't help. Instead the background noise seems to meld together into a disturbing muffled pulse that causes pressure in Natsu's ears to worsen to the point he thinks his eardrums will burst.

_~Come play~_

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

_~cOme pLAy wITh uS~_

Gasping, Natsu opens his eyes only to have his heart cease.

Around him, the gymnasium is gone. Missing is the noise of his fellow classmates and the coach's whistle. Missing is every possible thing that could ever make sense in the world as everything was gone and replaced with inky darkness. So thick that Natsu can barely even see his own hand as he tries to look around him for some kind of sign that this was real or fake.

Was he dreaming? But how? He didn't remember falling asleep, and even if he did he never had nightmares during the day. The nightmares exclusively tormented him at night when he was alone and away from anyone who could help him, so… how was this happening?

Everything is silent around him except the sound of dripping water somewhere nearby. The silence leaves a pressure in Natsu's chest that has him struggling to breathe, especially when he holds back to gasp for breath, terrified of what the silence and darkness holds within itself. He's afraid that if he makes too loud of a sound, whatever he feels lurking in the darkness would come and snatch him away. The last thing he wants is to become a victim to the darkness and disappear forever like that girl in Gray's story, if it was even true. Igneel was waiting for him, so he needed to find a way out of the darkness.

Running his hands along the ground, the floor feels cold and slick beneath his fingers, cold enough to feel wet. Natsu pushes back the thought as he continues to search the ground until his fingers brush against a long object that he quickly latches onto, and in seconds he is nearly blinded by the light of the flashlight when he switches it on.

With the light surrounding him, Natsu feels like he can breathe again and feels his racing heart begin to slow down with every breath he takes. It is at that moment that Natsu realizes that he's shaking, seeing how the light wavers in his hands that clutch onto the flashlight with his life. He then realizes how utterly terrified he is because this dream is so drastically different than the ones he usually has.

In all of his dreams Natsu isn't always aware that he's dreaming. Especially when he always finds himself walking or running down the same endless corridor with objects that he can see and touch. He didn't have to put much thought in those dreams which was why they didn't terrify him as much, but this dream was different. Natsu knew he was dreaming, and he could feel the very air as if he were awake and not dreaming. As if he really was in this dark endless void rather than back at school and sitting on the bleachers… how did this even happen?

"Get a grip Dragneel," Natsu mutters to himself as he shakes his head to try to get himself focused.

He takes a few deep breaths that fill his nose with the scent of mildew and stagnant water before pushing himself to his feet. He keeps his eyes trained to the ground so that he won't trip over anything or fall into a hole and begins to walk forward, trying to follow the familiar pattern of his usual dream even when this was completely different. Natsu convinces himself that this was to wait the nightmare out until he finally woke up… if he ever _did_ wake up.

"Stop psyching yourself out," Natsu grumbles, his voice echoing in the large space as he puts one foot in front of the other, but the words don't help ease his anxiety.

Instead his heartrate only seems to pick up when the sound of dripping water gets louder and louder with every step that he takes. It causes him to pick up his pace and the familiar tingling sensation that filled his body during every nightmare he's had overcomes him. It leaves his whole body shaking and makes it hard to breathe. He even gags when the smell of mildew and something rotten gets stronger while the dripping water gets louder.

Before he knows it, he's running.

Pumping his arms, Natsu watches the light barely lighting his way strobe around him making him dizzy and his stomach churn. If he didn't find fresh air soon he was going to lose the very little breakfast he had this morning, and throwing up meant slowing down and slowing down did not bode well with him. Not when he felt something close behind him.

He could feel the familiar tingling at the back of his neck, the one you got when someone stares at you way too long or intensely. The staticky feeling that pulsed and traveled up the back of your skull and over your head until it reached your eyes and made them twitch. The one that made your ears burn and your hands sweat while your body grows cold and alert as if danger was only inches away. This is the feeling that kept Natsu running through the darkness.

"Dammit, Dammit, DAMMIT!" Natsu growls while pushing himself further when he senses what feels like a hand brush the tips of his hair at the back of his head.

Whatever was chasing him was teasing him and it was driving him crazy.

_~PLaY WitH uS~_

A distorted child-like voice says, but it sounded as if more than one thing had said it. It doesn't help that several different giggles resonate through the darkness filling Natsu's ears and almost causing him to trip on his own feet. That only leaves them laughing louder.

_~CoMe plAy~_

_~pLaY wITh uS nATsU~_

**_~PLaY WitH uS~_**

Tripping over his untied shoe laces, Natsu is sent sprawling to the floor in a heavy heap as he yells in surprise at the sudden pain that envelopes him. The fall knocks the wind out of him and he coughs from lack of air and the smell of mildew and rot that is so overpowering that Natsu can no longer breathe.

_~ShE iS WaiTiNG fOR yoU nATsU~_

_~dON't YoU WAnT tO plAy wITh hEr?~_

Who?

Pushing the question from his mind, Natsu goes back to searching through the darkness for his flashlight while trying to cover his face with the neck of his T-shirt. It helps to somewhat stifle the bad smell, but it doesn't block out all of it. Not to mention the fact that Natsu seemed to quickly be losing consciousness which worried him, because what if he didn't wake up? What if this was the end? Would he never get to see Igneel or his friends again?

DAMMIT!

Latching onto the flashlight that had rolled only a few feet away, Natsu stands to his feet and finally faces the flashlight behind him where he had refused to look the whole while he was running.

Choking on a scream and a sob, Natsu stares at a sight beyond words. A scream continues to build up in his chest while his eyes widen at what stood before him.

Jumping away, Natsu feels himself fall backwards endlessly and he can do nothing except scream out in fear as he continues to fall. He tightly screws his eyes shut and tries to fight his way out of the grasping hands that clutch onto him and pull him in every direction.

_~nATsU~_

Pulling his arm back, Natsu lets it sail forward and makes contact with something fleshy and hard.

_~NaTSu~_

Natsu keeps fighting until something rams into the side of his face making his head spin.

_Nat-su~_

Reeling, Natsu can barely focus on the sound of his name which sounds distorted and far away. Still, he tries to open his eyes only to find that he can't see anything other than a far-off bright light. It only seems to get brighter the more he thrashes around and continues to fight off the hands that hold him down.

_NATSU!_

Something gets in the way of the light and it looks like a person. For a second Natsu thinks it's the girl from his dream, but as he continues to focus on the image he realizes that its Lis. Not a second later Natsu realizes that the hands holding him down are coach Mine and a few of his classmates.

"Natsu, calm down!" Lisanna pleads while gently grasping his face so that his wild eyes focus on her, "Please Natsu, you're safe. It's ok… you're ok."

Blinking a few times, Natsu realizes that he was no longer in the inky darkness and what surrounded him was bright light and the sounds of murmuring and not dripping water or the sound of his running feet. The air smells of rubber from dodgeballs and not mildew or rotten flesh, and the hands that hold him are human and not whatever those creatures that had chased him were.

"Dammit," is all Natsu gasos before passing out…

* * *

Midnight blue eyes stare in wonder at the dubious teenager laying in the infirmary bed across from him, watching as the boy stares up at the ceiling looking lost. He notices the obsidian eyes usually filled with a lively fire are now blank and clouded.

Thoughts and unseen images swim across the dull irises causing Gray to worry for his usually boisterous friend. Especially when he knew the pinkette long enough to see that something was bothering him which had caused him to make that scene earlier in the gymnasium.

After getting punched by Natsu, Gray had tried to swipe back at him with no luck and instead decided to focus on the match being played against the other half of their class. He had gotten so into the game that he was scared shitless when a blood-curdling scream filled the gymnasium and was surprised that it was coming from Natsu.

Immediately, Gray had dropped his ball and ran towards his friend who was writhing on the ground and screaming his head off so hard that a vein popped out on his forehead while his face turned a nasty shade of red/purple. To make things worse, Natsu's eyes had nearly rolled to the back of his head and it took too many people to hold him down, surprising everyone by how strong the pinkette was. A feat Gray learned when he was decked in the face by a stray fist which he quickly returned when he was able to stop seeing double.

Irritable grumbling has Gray look up to find the ill-tempered local doctor who sometimes came to help at the high school enter the room with her usual scowl directed at him. Porlyusica continues to mutter under her breath as she hands Gray a small paper cup filled with two pills and an icepack.

"Here," Porlyusica grumbles while shoving the pills and icepack into Gray's hands before placing Natsu's items on the nearby nightstand while the pinkette continued to stare at the ceiling, blinking every so often to show that he was still somewhat conscious, "Take the pills and put the icepack on your face. It will help with the swelling, "Porlyusica mutters before turning to head towards the exit.

"Aren't you going to give us any water to take with this?" Gray asks, not surprised at the doctor's lack of sympathy, but wanting to direct his agitation at _something_ that reacted back, however he gets no response as the doctor's back disappears behind the door that closes behind her.

Groaning, Gray knocks back the pills and swallows them dry which leaves a bad taste in his mouth as he turns to glare once again at the immobile Natsu who did not look like he was going to move to take his medication.

The small infirmary is silent other than the sound of the nearby A/C whirring softly or the occasional rustling from the curtain billowing by the nearby window. The sound of birds chirping filters through the cool room that smells of antiseptic, and although he wants to welcome it, the silence was driving him crazy.

"What's wrong?" Gray asks, hating how his voice cuts through the thick silence that lingers between Natsu and himself. He also had to hold back a wince from his bruised jaw. "You've been acting weird, and I'm starting to get worried."

Obsidian eyes look up to meet midnight blue and concern showing back at him says that he's doing it again. He's spacing out and making everyone around him worry when even _he_ doesn't know what's going on.

What was he supposed to tell Gray? Was he supposed to tell him about the nightmares that were plaguing his nights?

He should… Gray would understand… wouldn't he?

"Look man, I don't know what's going on but you're scaring people… especially me," Gray's voice breaks through Natsu's thoughts causing him to flinch at the tone Gray was using, "That little stunt you just pulled is not something you'd usually pull, so spit it out. What's wrong?"

Gray Fullbuster was not one to beat around the bush.

"I don't know," Natsu murmurs after taking in a pained breath and sighs heavily at Gray's 'no bullshit' look that he gives him. "I… I've… I've been having nightmares," Natsu finally admits while closing his eyes and feeling his cheeks heat up. Saying out loud made the whole situation now seem so ridiculous.

"Nightmares?" Gray asks, sounding confused but says nothing more, waiting for Natsu to elaborate.

"Yeah… they're very frequent. Been having them for some time now and usually I can handle them but lately they've been… different."

An image of the monster he had just seen flashes in Natsu's mind which causes his stomach to churn and that staticky feeling at the back of his head return.

"Different how?" Grays asks while pressing his icepack gently to his throbbing cheek.

Ur was going to kill him when he got home.

Natsu tells him about the dreams, of the endless corridor he walked or rand down. The ever-changing light sources and the strange creatures that chase him every night. Natsu even tells him about the recent dream he had and the girl that saved his life.

"What girl?" Gray asks, looking curious that his dense friend would even dream of a member of the opposite sex, much less _think_ about one.

Broad shoulders lift and fall so quickly Gray almost misses the gesture, "I didn't get to see who she was, but she saved my life," Natsu says in a low whisper that Gray almost misses his words, "And today I had another dream, which is why I woke up screaming," Natsu admits almost shamefully, "I thought you were one of the monsters from my dream so that's why I punched you, but I guess you're so ugly that I couldn't tell you two apart," comes his mocking comment showing the male that his friend was starting to slightly recover.

"You wish you were as good looking as me," Gray retorts while throwing his pillow at the teenager who surprisingly doesn't fight back. Instead he lets the pillow hit him and cover his face while he remains lying on his bed, "Do you think it was the girl from my story," Gray then asks after a few beats of silence, causing Natsu to remove the pillow to look at him curiously.

"What story," he asks, sounding completely oblivious to the fact that Gray had told a scary story this morning to their friends in the club room.

Really, this guy was an idiot.

"Never mind," Gray mutters with the roll of his eyes, but his good mood sobers when Natsu grows serious again as he sits up and takes the cup of pills into his hand.

"Hey man," Gray says in a tone that has Natsu cringing away from what he really doesn't want to hear, "You do know it was only a dream, right? None of that was real, so don't think about it too much."

_But it was real… in it's own special way what I experienced was real,_ Natsu thinks while frowning down at his pills.

The phantom feeling of the girl's hand in his still made Natsu's palm tingle and the sight of the monster and the putrid smell it produced still lingered to his nose. He could also still hear the creepy distorted voices of the creatures chasing him down and his muscles were still tense and throbbing as if he really had run a marathon.

His dream had been a real one... but how could he ever make Gray understand that without making himself seem crazier?

"Alright," Natsu sighs heavily before throwing back the bitter tasting pills and swallowing hard with a bit of difficulty.

* * *

**So this chapter was supposed to be out last Friday, but I had a hell of a week of bad luck that I decided to postpone it until now. Hopefully you all enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Anywho, how has everyone's week been?**

**Shout outs**

**I want to thank my Fantastic Favorites...**

**\- Amanny**

**\- shootingstarssel**

**\- jessicalayneham**

**My Fabulous Followers**

**\- shootingstarssel**

**\- JcL107**

**and my Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- Amanny = Thank you!**

**\- stranger1999 = I'm happy to see you in this nick of the woods and I hope I can continue giving spine-chilling chapters for you all to read.**

**Well that's all the shout outs for today.**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	4. Chapter 3

The sky overhead is grey and gloomy with a light pressure in the air that smelled like possible rain. Natsu grumbles to himself because the weather report had said nothing about it raining today and he had left his umbrella at home. The last thing he needed today was to get home all drenched because of an incorrect weather report.

Laughter up ahead catches his attention as he makes his way out of the school yard to find his friends all huddled by the gate. He makes his way towards them as they continue to laugh with one another over something he must have missed for arriving late. He hadn't expected taking so long in the nurse's room or to be chewed out by Wakaba for scaring the living daylights out of him, only to be chewed out even more when Natsu refused to explain his little episode.

"Natsu!" Lisanna calls while waving her hand excitedly over her head towards the somber boy.

Natsu responds by quickening his pace so that he was now standing between Lisanna and Levy, who had her nose stuck in a new book that nearly swallowed her head.

"How are you feeling?" Lisanna asks while gently clutching the sleeve of his jacket and looking at him with that worried look again. It makes Natsu's stomach churn because he realizes that the others must have heard what had happened in the gymnasium today.

The last thing he wanted was to talk about what had happened and explain why it was that he had freaked out so much. Natsu also didn't want to get the same response Gray had given him in the infirmary from Lisanna.

"Better," Natsu says while giving Lisanna a strained smile, "Just really tired and ready to go home."

"Thankfully it's now the weekend!" Lisanna says cheerfully with an excited glint in her eyes.

The thought of it being the weekend actually sparked excitement in Natsu's chest. He'd be spending it at the hospital with his dad, surrounded by the peaceful sounds of his father's heart monitor that reminded Natsu that Igneel was still alive with each beep.

Natsu never got nightmares at the hospital.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

"Natsu… what's that on your cheek?" a commanding voice asks which causes Natsu to flinch. Dread already spreading throughout his body like a poison, "And why does Gray have a similar mark on his face?" Erza's booming voice then asks when said male shows up only to stop dead in his tracks.

"It was him!" Gray yells when Erza shoots an angry glare in his direction, which is then trained onto Natsu, "He punched me when he had an episode in the gym and then I punched him back to snap him out of his stupid," Gray explains desperately while looking fearfully at the red-haired female still glaring at Natsu.

"Thanks a lot ice princess," Natsu growls when Erza crosses her arms and taps her foot impatiently.

Natsu ducks his head and looks up at Erza who is shaking her head before asking, "What happened?" while the others from their group turn to look at him.

He hates the attention, and his temple starts to throb.

The sensation shoots a pang of fear through his chest, because the last time his head hurt was only a few hours ago. Just before he was sent into that nightmare that still had his heart racing a thousand miles a second. The memory of that horror only makes him gulp with fear as he tries to find a way to get out of this, but he knew that Erza wouldn't let this topic go. She was like a high-strung mother who always got after him for getting into fights, not doing his work, or goofing off when he was supposed to take things serious.

Most of the time Natsu could take it, but today he just wanted to be left alone.

"Go easy on him Erza," a smooth voice says just as someone wraps their arm around her tense shoulders, catching everyone off guard from their sudden appearance, "Can't I ever come home to you all just getting along and not snarling at each other's throats?"

"Jellal!" Erza gasps when she recognizes her boyfriend hugging her close, completely forgetting that she was about to lecture Natsu about fighting in class. Natsu mouths a grateful _"thank you"_ to his cousin who only nods before leading his girlfriend away.

"Laxus didn't come to visit with you?" Mirajane asks while bounding up to the couple now leading everyone towards the neighborhood they all lived in.

"He's coming down tomorrow. He has a paper due tonight, so he stayed back in Omnibus," Jellal explains.

Mirajane pouts and nods in understanding looking a little deflated when hearing that her boyfriend was not yet in town. Their meetings and dates were so far apart due to Laxus working hard to graduate in the spring with a bachelor's in engineering. He had tried once to break up with Mirajane so that she would be able to find someone else who could give her the time and attention he could not give to her because of where he now lived, but Mirajane refused.

Heck, Mirajane was the one who took charged and had asked Laxus to date her even when he was four years her senior.

Together, the group of friends make their way slowly down the street towards home while Natsu trudges near the back. He tries to focus on Lisanna's excited chatter while she recounts her day and gossip she picked up in class.

"Can you believe she'd say something like that?" Lisanna asks Natsu, but he's already lost most of the conversation, so he doesn't know what she's talking about. Natsu instead opts to shake his head and give his friend a feigned look of surprise as if he couldn't believe what she was saying. This seems to appease Lisanna as she continues with her story, her words fading into the background.

Soon enough the group reaches their street and each head towards their own home, ready to enjoy the long weekend. Long since Halloween landed on a Sunday and it was tradition within their collective group of friends that their parents allow their kids to skip the day after Halloween if the holiday landed on a school night.

"Hey Jellal," Natsu calls up to his cousin who looks engrossed with catching up their friends with his college outgoings. Said male turns back towards his cousin who quickly catches up with him and asks, "Can you feed Happy when you get home?" without an explanation.

"Umm… sure," Jellal says, earning a smile from the pinkette who turns to walk in a different direction than the rest of the group. "Where are you going?" Jellal then asks, a pang of worry filling his chest. Especially since it hadn't slipped his notice the way Natsu was being so quiet and a bit out of it. Usually by now Natsu would be picking a fight with either Grey or himself.

"To visit the old man," Natsu says while turning to face him and walking backwards towards the bus stop, "Don't wait up," Natsu then winks before turning around again and jogging to the bus stop just as the vehicle arrives to pick up and drop off passengers.

All eyes watch as Natsu disappears into the large bus and sits near the back, the only thing visible through the tinted windows being the top of his head.

No one mentions it, but every single person feels a sinking weight at the pit of their stomachs.

X

"Hey old man!" Natsu calls out while crashing through the door of his father's room.

On a normal day that Igneel had a visitor he would have been scolded and hit upside the head and called rude for being so noisy, but today the room is empty and silent. The only sound is that of the nearby curtains that rustle from the light breeze blowing in through the open window. There was also the steady beep of Igneel's heart monitor that always gave Natsu a sort of peace when hearing it. One that reminded him his father had not yet kicked the bucket and followed Natsu's mom into the other world.

Dropping his bag on the ground near the bed, Natsu kicks off his shoes and neatly places them beside his bag. He then shrugs off his sweater to dump it on the foot of his father's bed before plopping down in the armchair nearby while heaving a heavy sigh. The weight of the day slowly evaporating with the calming silence that engulfs the room other than the consistent beeping of the heart monitor and soft hiss of the ventilator helping Igneel breathe.

The sterile smell that comes with every hospital is also a calming scent. At first Natsu had hated the way the clean smell would make his nose itch, but regular visits and overnight stays had gotten Natsu's sensitive nose to get used to the smell. Now it no longer bothered him.

Stretching until his bones give a satisfying pop, Natsu finally settles down to look at his father's peacefully sleeping face. Because of the countless silent visits, Natsu had taken to staring at Igneel's face, memorizing every scar, every wrinkle, and every pore his dad had. He marveled at the scar running down Igneel's right eye and the other crisscrossed scar on his right cheek, both that Igneel claimed he had gotten when he was Natsu's age before he had met the love of his wife. Back in a time that Igneel was a rowdy gang member and always got into so much trouble.

When Natsu had found out about this he hadn't believed it. Not when Igneel was such an honorable man who lived life by the book, following every moral code and respected the law to a T. Natsu had always thought that it was because his dad was a firefighter who risked his life every single day to save the lives of others, but learned that it was _because_ Igneel had lived on the other side of the law that he lived honorably. It was also why Igneel was so wise and always knew what to say when Natsu, or any of his friends, was having difficulty abiding by the rules society dictated that they follow.

If it weren't for Igneel's teachings, Natsu probably would have ended up with the wrong crowd a long time ago… Not that that has saved Natsu from rebelling against his dad from time to time.

_"You'll get over this rebellious phase. For now we just need to let it burn out,"_ had been one of the last things Igneel had told him when Natsu had talked back to him over something he couldn't even remember anymore.

They had gotten in a fight and Natsu had said some things that now twisted his stomach into painful knots, but Igneel had simply chuckled and looked at him as if he were a small brat. He had ruffled his hair tenderly and said those words before going back to make lunch for the two of them. Hours later after hanging out with friends for a late birthday get-together, Natsu would watch a car ram into the side of Igneel's Jeep causing the man to now be in a deep coma.

Now in the silence of the room and the sight of Igneel's sleeping face, Natsu can only wonder what life would be like if Igneel really had been taken away from him by that crash.

"It's been a while since I've come to visit you dad… I'm sorry," Natsu apologizes. Feeling guilty that he had waited a whole week to come and visit his dad.

Usually when he visited he tended to stay the night, but because of this he has gotten in trouble a few times with Porlyusica who always demanded he go home and get a good night's sleep. She didn't know that the only time Natsu _did_ get a good night's sleep was when he stayed in the hospital by his father's side. Igneel had always been the one to keep the nightmares at bay since Natsu was a kid, and it was no different now. The only difference was that Igneel wasn't awake to give Natsu advice on what to do with the current dreams he kept having, or how they were somehow bleeding into his waking world.

"I've been doing pretty good," Natsu says while leaning back on the armchair to stare up at the plain ivory ceiling, "School's great and everyone has been really supportive. Aunt Grandine sends her regards and apologizes that she can't quite leave work just yet to come down from Peace Village. However, she says she should be down by Thanksgiving, but Jellal comes to visit all the time when he gets a break from homework in uni. Still, I know he only visits because he wants to see his girlfriend even though he's _technically_ supposed to be keeping an eye on me for Grandine," Natsu grumbles jokingly.

After Igneel's accident, there had been debate as to who Natsu would be staying with between his father's two siblings – Natsu had never met his mother's side of the family before. Grandine had immediately been crossed off the list because she lived in a different town a two-day train ride away, while Metallicana lived just up the street. Natsu had opted to stay with his uncle to remain close to Igneel and Grandine had not been too keen on that idea since Metallicana was hardly every home. He tended to jump from his work as a mechanic to his job as a bar keep - which he owned downtown called the "Iron Claw" – to then go home to sleep for a few hours and repeat the cycle the next day. This left his two kids to be left to their own devices and Natsu was known to always pick fights with his cousin Gajeel who had skipped class… again.

How Levy, the smartest girl in the whole school, could stand to date a brute like that, Natsu would never understand.

Giving up on trying to get Natsu to go up and live with her, Grandine had settled to leave the Dragneel boy alone when Jellal had offered to come down from Omnibus to check up on his cousins whenever he could. However, what Grandine didn't know, and what Metallicana had not yet realized or was ignoring, that instead of staying over at the Redfox house, Natsu tended to just stay at his own home or sleep at the hospital whenever he got the chance. No one actually knew that Natsu remained at home all by himself and those that did were his closest friends and Jellal.

Natsu was basically on his own.

"When are you going to wake up old man?" Natsu asks while folding his arms on his dad's bed and leaning his head into them to stare up at the sleeping male's face. Wishing that Igneel would move his hand to ruffle his hair in that reassuring way he had since Natsu's mother passed away eleven years ago.

What Natsu wouldn't give to hear his dad's laugh again…

X

Warm orange light glows behind Natsu's closed eyelids, slowly rousing him from a deep sleep he had not even realized he had fallen into.

Taking in a deep breath, Natsu sighs with a soft groan before peeking an eye open and feeling a bit disoriented as to where he currently was. There was just so much white when he opened his eyes, compared to the light beige walls in his room surrounded with red décor.

Where had all the color gone?

Panicking that this might be another realistic dream, Natsu sits up and whips his head around in a frenzy, only to realize that he wasn't in another nightmare. Instead he had woken up in his father's room at the hospital surrounded by warmth and the calming sound of the nearby heart monitor and ventilator that helped keep Igneel alive.

"What am I, a pansy?" Natsu mutters to himself while scratching his head in frustration, dropping the blanket that must have been placed on him by one of the nurses.

Sighing heavily, Natsu sits back in the armchair and stretches his arms up above his head until his bones pop before relaxing. Natsu then opts to lean back in the armchair and stare up at the ceiling while wrapped up in the scratchy hospital blanket, feeling the most rested he has all week. He's even thankful that there hadn't been a single nightmare that plagued him all night. If only he could stay here at the hospital every night by his dad's side, then maybe the nightmares would go away for good.

"Porlyusica would never let me stay," Natsu grumbles to himself.

Porlyusica was like a nagging grandmother who never left him alone and got after him more than Natsu's own teachers. However, Natsu had learned not to challenge the temperamental doctor. The first time he had tried, he was barred from stepping into the hospital for a whole week before Porlyusica took away the punishment. Natsu never once defied the woman again for fear of being kept from his father again, especially since the pink-haired doctor had warned to be lock him out for an entire month the next time he tried to sass her.

"When are you going to wake up old man?" Natsu asks, and like the many times before he receives no answer except that of the constant beeping of the heart monitor.

Instead of sitting in the silence waiting for an answer that would never come, Natsu grabs his bag and starts to work on his homework for the following week while he had the chance. If Igneel, or anyone else would see him doing his homework, they'd drop dead where they stood since Natsu had never been a studious student. He was smart enough to pass with average grades, but no one had noticed the A's he'd been receiving as of late. Natsu was thankful his teachers never mentioned anything about his improvement. They were probably scared that if they did say something, Natsu would go back to half-assing his work… they weren't wrong.

After finishing all of his homework, Natsu then goes about the room to dust the grey film slowly collecting on the furniture that the nurses didn't get a chance to clean. He also grabs his father's razor and shaving cream to wash and shave Igneel's face since he was starting to grow a beard.

Natsu never understood why Igneel liked to shave since, according to him, Igneel looked great in a beard.

"_Your mother always said I looked like a dirty trucker with a beard,_" was always his reply, "_Besides, I look better without it."_

For the rest of the morning, Natsu helps the nurses clean up his dad and brush Igneel's growing red hair until there was nothing left to do except wait. Wait for onyx eyes to open and a hearty laugh drown out the sounds of the heart monitor and ventilator.

* * *

**Happy Valentine's day my lovelies! Hope your February is going better than mine.**

**If you were wondering why I didn't update last week, well that's because I don't update on the first Friday of every month, so expect a chapter next Friday! I've got a few buffer chapters that I made last week so we're set for updates for this month. If I get enough reviews I might even sprinkle in some bonus chapters in the middle of the week next week before Friday... we'll see lol.**

**Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

**Shout Outs**

**Great thanks to my Fantastic Favorite...**

**\- ****shootingstarssel**

**And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- Amanny = Thank you! I'm really happy you're enjoying it so far.**

**\- shootingstarssel = It's never too early to come up with theories! Who knows, you might even guess correctly, but either way I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.**

**\- stranger1999 = I'm glad you're enjoying it! Reading back on it, I'm also getting Stranger Things vibes as well. This story is actually inspired by a bunch of different moves and television shows I watched over the years and even more inspired now after taking a Supernatural in Literature course! I hope I do you all proud with a great creepy story!**

**Well that's all the shout outs for today.**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	5. Chapter 4

~CoME bAcK hErE~

Distorted laughter fills the hallways, nearly drowning out the sound of running feet that pound desperately against the floor. Exhausted pants mix in with the laughter and running as feet skid across the carpeted floor to turn a corner and rush down another corridor. The runner keeps this up before they finally reach a hallway lined with doors and leading towards a dead end.

"_SHIT_!" comes the inaudible gasp as eyes search feverishly down the walls lined with mismatched doors, but unable to find what it is that they are looking for.

"Where are you?!" the figure screeches out desperately when they hear the laughter and distorted voices inching ever so closely. It wouldn't be long before they rounded the corner and caught her, which is the last thing the panting female wanted.

Still searching the doors, the sound of the laughter ceases causing the girl to freeze up at the sudden silence. So thick you could cut it with a knife while your ears rang violently.

Looking over from where she had come from, the girl waits patiently, silently, for any sign that those creatures were no longer looking for her. She does everything in her power to control her breathing so that the sound did not attract her unwelcomed companions as she remained staring at the corner with sweat pouring down her face and a chill encompassing her body.

Were they gone?

After what feels like an eternity the girl finally sighs in relief and leans her head against the wall she was now using as support to catch her breath. Her breathing comes out in jagged gasps and she clutches her chest where it burns to breathe while wondering how long she had been running away.

~CoMe plAy~

~PLaY wITh uS~

Choking on her own scream, the girl whips around to find a red eye and warped hand peeking out from around the corner and staring at her. The bright red eye causes her heart to cease as she slowly backs away while keeping her eyes on the peeking eyeball, worried that if she looked away it would rush to catch her within seconds.

Bumping into a door, the girl fumbles with her left hand in search of the doorknob that is not the correct color, but twists it open anyways. Taking a deep breath, she pushes the door open behind her, jumping into the room and closing the door just as the creatures surged around the corner to attack her.

The door locks behind her leaving her to greet the next nightmare she needs to defeat…

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

"I'm home!" Natsu calls out while slamming the door behind him and shrugging off his jacket to hang it on the nearby coatrack.

Silence greets him, not that Natsu is surprised, as he kicks off his shoes and walks through the living room to find his cat lounging on the couch. His tail swishing lazily while he keeps his eyes closed, unperturbed by his owner's noisy entrance. The only acknowledgement the cat gives Natsu is a loud purring that resonates through the silence and reaches Natsu's sensitive ears.

"Ya lazy feline," Natsu grumbles while heading into the kitchen to search the nearly empty fridge for something to eat.

He isn't all that hungry, having been fed at the hospital by the friendly nurses and cafeteria ladies, but he wants something to munch on; however, Natsu does not find anything worth his while and makes a mental note to go to the store later on in the day to buy more groceries with the allowance his uncle gave him on a weekly basis.

It was meager what Metallicana gave Natsu, but Grandine had also gotten into the habit of sending the teenager money whenever she could so that Natsu wouldn't be left without change. This was a great help because Natsu had begun to worry on how he would survive living home alone while Jellal was away and his uncle was at work; however, he still didn't know how it was that the light and water hasn't been cut off since he hasn't paid for either since his dad's accident.

Sighing, Natsu closes the fridge door, wincing when it slams shut, and waits a few seconds for the reprimand that doesn't come. Natsu doesn't dwell on the silence further as he makes his way towards the staircase to trudge up the carpeted steps to go to his room. He keeps his eyes trained on the ground, ignoring the pictures lining the stairs with happy faces as he follows the ivory carpet up to the second landing, still not brave enough to look up.

When he reaches the landing, Natsu turns his head to the right to find the door to his dad's room. The room hasn't been opened in weeks, Natsu never finds it in himself to open the door and go through the doorway to enter the lonely room; in fact, Natsu hasn't gone into his dad's room in years. He doesn't even remember too well what it looks like.

_The room is probably covered in dust,_ Natsu muses while keeping his hand firmly grasped on the banister, his eyes still glued to the pristine white door with the golden doorknob.

Natsu wants to shrug off the thought, that he can always go in and clean the room when his father wakes up, but an invisible force pulls him towards the white door. His steps are slow and small, as if he were walking against his will, but he reaches the door before he even realizes he's moving.

A heavy weight presses into Natsu's gut when he places his hand on the cool metal of the doorknob, the same feeling he always got when looking at his father's door. Not because he was scared what might lay behind the door, but more like aware that there _was_ nothing behind the door. Not Igneel, not his mom… no one. Even with that knowledge, Natsu continues to turn the knob slowly until the lock clicks open and the door gives to allow the boy to open the door fully.

_~Don't open it~_

Startled at the cold feeling rushing down his spine like ice, Natsu whirls around to look behind him and clutch the back of his neck. It had felt like someone had dropped an ice cube down his back, but the hallway was empty. If someone had been behind him and tried rushing down the stairs to keep from getting caught, Natsu would have either heard or smelled them, but there was nothing. No other living person within the house except Happy who was still lazily sleeping down in the living room.

"Creepy," Natsu mutters before pushing the door open to find the room untouched.

Bright afternoon sunlight pours in through the clear uncovered windows, showering the room in clean golden light that almost makes the room look ethereal. Champagne walls are covered in picture frames and paintings of blurred landscapes of places Natsu has never seen before. Natsu always wondered if his mother had painted them, knowing Igneel was never good at art except cooking, and if the places she painted were places she had been to before.

Turning away from the paintings, Natsu looks over at his dad's bed to find it neatly made and covered in a bit of dust. He notes that he'll have to wash the covers soon so that the light-yellow embroidered cover, decorated in hand-stitched pastel flowers, doesn't become moth-eaten. The white pillowcases, also embroidered with lace lining, also have collected a bit of dust that makes Natsu worry if the pristine white will be stained grey. These were, after all, his dad's favorite covers.

Running his finger over the white old-fashioned dresser that sat to the left of the door which also had a vanity built into it. Natsu watches the grey film of dust and dirt cling to his finger while motes fly through the air and cause his nose to itch. On the dresser there are different crystal containers that looked like they had perfume that no one ever used. Pictures of Natsu when he was little also rested along the dresser in front of the mirror that glared back at Natsu as if seeing him as a stranger.

He felt like a stranger in this room.

The rest of the room is decorated in more feminine furniture that would make his female friends swoon and his male friends crow in laughter, which they have done before. Natsu's entire house was decorated in "girly" old-fashioned furniture and decorations save for his room and his father's study. Pastel colors and floral print were the dominating themes throughout the house, and even their lawn had an "enchanting woodsy cottage feel." At least that was how Levy had described it the first time she had come over to his house.

When seeing the house, one would think it belonged to a single librarian who always got lost in their daydreams, not a burly man and his rebellious teenage son; however, Igneel refused to change the décor of the house since Natsu's mother passed away. This was, according to Igneel, Natsu's mother's house.

Natsu remembered bringing his friends for the first time when he was in middle school and all the taunting he would get from Gray, Elfman, and even Mirajane. They only stopped their taunting when they realized Igneel kept it as it was as a memento to his and his wife's love story.

Igneel Dragneel was a no-good troublemaker when he was a teenager who flirted with anything wearing a skirt, at least that's was what Metallicana used to say. He was the most troublesome of the three Dragneel children and although smart, he lacked the motivation to keep his grades up in school. This had caused him to repeat his junior year, which he had decided to slack off again until he met _her._

Christabel Friar was a transfer student all the way from Pergrande Kingdom, a few countries north of Fiore. Her family had come down in attempts to build their own trading company in the prosperous Fiore and settled in Magnolia where the infamous Love&Lucky trading company made its home just a way out of the bustling town. Christabel's parents had actually hoped to find a way to create a business deal with Fiore's oldest trading company.

Unlike the girls of Fiore who enjoyed dressing comfortably due to the usually warm weather, Christabel always dressed a bit old-fashioned with long or short-sleeved blouses or dresses with ruffles on them and long pleated skirts that hung just below her knee. She paired her attires with dark colored tights and loafers with small heels on them. She also wore very little makeup and the jewelry she wore was always thin and dainty, which allowed her natural beauty to show. She was the image of a sophisticated librarian who was always too busy studying to go out with friends and enjoy herself like most teenagers her age did. She had actually skipped a grade when she was younger which meant that she and Igneel were Juniors together.

A week after the first day of the new semester, Igneel had wanted to prank one of his teachers by placing a bucket of dirty mop water over the doorway and waited with his friends for their teacher to walk in. Unfortunately, Christabel had entered before the teacher, pulling the door open and sending a cascade of dark water down on her head.

Shocked silence had filled the room while everyone stared at Christabel who stood absolutely still with the bucket covering her face. After the initial shock had left everyone, Igneel and his fellow pranksters began to laugh, thinking the sight before them was far too hilarious to pass up a laugh.

Pulling off the bucket from her head, Christabel had glared nastily at the group of boys who had laughed the loudest, burning golden eyes meeting dark obsidian. The knowledge in her golden eyes showing Igneel that she knew just exactly who had placed the bucket of dirty water over the door. Without a single word, Christabel had stormed towards Igneel and upon raising her hand Igneel instinctively shut his eyes to await the blow that never came.

When Igneel had opened his eyes again, he was met with the sight of furious tears spilling down Christabel's face, her hand still hanging in the air just an inch from Igneel's cheek. It was at that moment Igneel claimed that he had felt his heart pull for the first time in his life, and the first time he ever really regretted pulling a prank on someone. He couldn't help following after Christabel when she turned and ran out of the room in embarrassment.

Natsu always recalls the rest of their story like a cliché romance movie with Igneel jumping over every hurdle in order to get Christabel to go out with him. Natsu's mother had hated the red head with a passion, but upon learning more about the male and saw what a sweet and caring mad he really was, she couldn't help but fall in love with him as well. Eventually, against the wishes of her friends and family, Christabel agreed to go out with Igneel.

Igneel never hid anything from Natsu and told him about how much they fought, but they always found a way around their problems by talking to one another and never lying. They fought hard for their relationship, with their adversary's always being Christabel's family, but they couldn't fight the fact that Christabel's father had decided to move the family back to Pergrande Kingdom the year she and Igneel were finally seniors and months away from graduation.

Christabel's father would have taken her by force save for one minor detail that came up.

Christabel announced her pregnancy on Christmas causing her family to disown her and leave her in Magnolia where she moved in with the Dragneels who welcomed her with open arms. Christabel was only sixteen while Igneel was nineteen.

Grandine had told Natsu that after finding out he was going to be a dad, Igneel took on as many jobs as he could while continuing school so that Christabel wouldn't have to worry about anything. He had even rented them an apartment to live in together while they finished school and asked her to marry him the day they moved into their tiny new home. A month after their graduation Natsu was born and a month after that they finally got married.

Igneel eventually entered and graduated the fire academy and has worked as a firefighter since then. Christabel became a stay -at-home wife and took college classes online to get her degree, but Igneel always said that she was happy in the home he had bought her. A home she decorated to her heart's content and raised her baby boy, wanting nothing more than to fill the home further with more children… but that dream never came to be.

Both Christabel and Igneel were happy the years that they remained together, and the announcement that Christabel had leukemia only strengthened their bond. Christabel fought off cancer for three years before she passed away a few months after Natsu's fifth birthday.

His mother's passing had been a hard one that Natsu vaguely remembered. He remembers being so confused at all the crying people dressed in black that visited his home regularly. He also remembered his father shutting down and always locking himself in his room leaving his grandparents to care for him which confused him further. He didn't know why his dad was so sad and why everyone always told him mommy would not be coming home anymore.

Months had passed where Natsu remained at his grandparent's house until the day Igneel crashed into the Livingroom looking ragged and in need of a bath and shave. However, his dark obsidian eyes shone with a light that gave everyone hope for his recovery.

"Your mother came to me in a dream," Igneel had said with the widest smile he shined at Natsu after lifting him up, "She scolded me for abandoning you and leaving the house to go into ruin. She even yelled at me for allowing her prized magnolia tree to dry up… I'm sorry for leaving you bud."

Natsu had welcomed the return of his upbeat father and enjoyed nothing but the adventures they would both go on whenever his father didn't have to go to work. They both sometimes even lived in the fire station when Igneel had too much work to do. Igneel also made it so that Natsu always had something to remember his mother by. Telling him endless stories about her and the trouble, even as adults, that Igneel would get them in.

As Natsu grew older, he finally understood what it meant to miss his mother whenever others would talk about theirs leaving him wondering how different life would have been if Christabel had never passed away? This always led him to worry about his father and his line of work as a firefighter, making him wonder if he'd ever lose his dad to one of the fires he was sent out to fight.

If only he had known that it would the recklessness of another person who would almost take his dad away from him instead of the fires Igneel had trained to defeat.

Moving through the room, Natsu plops himself on his parent's bed and running his hands over the soft fabric of the cover underneath him. He remembers the nights he used to sleep with Igneel when he would get nightmares as a kid and of a faint memory of thin fingers brushing through his hair and comforting him. He was more than certain it wasn't Igneel who had the habit of ruffling Natsu's spiky locks, so he was guessing that it was his mother that used to run her fingers through his hair when he was little.

Natsu wondered how different life would have been like if his mother had never gotten sick and his dad had never gotten into an accident…

X

The sound of loud purring startles Natsu awake who sits up with a jolt to search around his unfamiliar surroundings. It takes him a few minutes to remember where he is before finally realizing that he had fallen asleep in his parent's empty room. The smell of dust clings to his nose making it itch with no sneeze coming to relieve his discomfort. He also realizes that the loud purring came from Happy who was staring at him with large eyes that glistened in the faint darkness.

Falling back on the soft bed, Natsu sighs heavily wondering when it was that he had passed out and turning to look at the nearby clock and seeing that it was half past eight. He had gotten home at around three in the afternoon which meant that he had slept for a total of five hours. He also notes that outside of his parent's window it was dark with the faint glow of streetlights shining into the dark room.

"_Mrow_," Happy calls while nudging Natsu's leg with his head thinking that the teenager had fallen back asleep, but Natsu simply reaches out to scratch him behind the ear while staring up at the ceiling.

He wants to go back to sleep, still feeling tired but not too exhausted as he realized he had once again had a dreamless sleep; however, Happy's insistent purring and headbutting reminds him that he still had someone to take care of and feed. Natsu then wonders if Jellal had fed Happy in the morning before leaving off with Erza for the day. Judging from Happy's calm attitude, Natsu deduces that his cousin had indeed fed his gluttonous cat before leaving the house.

"I'm going!" Natsu groans when Happy turns his head to bite his fingers when the teenager makes no move to get up.

Sitting back up, Natsu reaches over to turn on the nearby lamp only to find something slide off his lap and fall onto the soft rug. Reaching down to pic up what looks like a picture frame, Natsu turns it around to see what was on it only to find that it is a picture of him holding his mother's hand in what looks like to be Magnolia's Cherry Blossom grove.

He somewhat remembered that day that happened a few months before his fifth birthday, running around and catching falling cherry blossom petals while his mother and father sat at a nearby picnic blanket. It was a Dragneel family tradition to go to the Sakura festival every year, a feat the Dragneel men no longer partook in, and spend the whole day and night at the grove to enjoy the festivities.

Christabel's smiling face shines at the camera as she tries to keep her hair out of her face while holding onto Natsu's pudgy hand who was too preoccupied with a dandelion in his hand to give any notice to the camera taking a picture of him. Natsu laughs at his younger self who had not realized at the time that only a few months later Christabel would give in to her sickness and leave her two favorite boys behind; yet, somehow in the picture she did not look sick or weak if not full of life and health. Igneel had told Natsu that they had believed Christabel was getting better, but that the deceptive disease took her in her sleep only five months later.

Looking at the picture and tracing his mother's gentle face with his finger, Natsu can understand why Igneel had never married, not that he would have hated him if he had. Igneel always said that Christabel was the only woman in his life he ever needed and he'd spend the rest of his own life cherishing her memory and raising the son she had given him.

This, however, was not mutually agreed upon by Igneel's older siblings and friends who always tried to set up the male on blind dates, but those dates never led to anything. Igneel never seemed to go out with the same girl twice, which led his siblings and friends to try to set him up with someone else, but Igneel only ever showed up to those dates so as not to be rude. Afterwards, he was always home before ten to relieve the babysitter and tuck Natsu into bed.

Sighing, Natsu places the picture down on the nightstand where it belongs next to his parent's wedding picture before turning off the lamp. He then stands up and heads towards the hallway with Happy following him. Natsu then holds the door open for Happy and taking one last look inside the room he then closes the door tightly behind him.

Heading down towards the kitchen, Natsu shuffles around gathering Happy's dinner which always consisted of a can of tuna or other kinds of fish that the feline loved to eat.

Placing the food on the ground for Happy to eat, Natsu then goes to make himself a peanut butter sandwich, too lazy to make any actual food for himself. He's only barely beginning to spread the peanut butter on a slice of bread when he hears a creak in the floorboards which makes him jump. The sound of the nearby dripping faucet also gets to him as he waits for the sound to return, but nothing happens. Not even Happy twitches which meant that Natsu must have just heard it in his head, though that thought does not make him feel any better.

Looking back at his food, Natsu suddenly hears the creak again, and then again, as if someone were slowly walking.

"Jellal?" Natsu calls, wondering if it was his cousin moving through the house not realizing that his cousin might have come home while he was asleep and was in his own room upstairs, because that's where the creaking seemed to be coming from the floorboards.

There's no answer and Natsu puts his food down to stand under the doorway to look around the living room and up the nearby staircase that led upstairs as the noise suddenly stops. Nothing looked out of order and Jellal's shoes were nowhere to be seen at the shoe stand by the doorway with only Natsu's shoes and Igneel's untouched work shoes sitting idly in their stand. Natsu's jacket was also the only one hanging on the coat hanger.

It's lonely quiet nights like these that Natsu didn't like being home alone and wished he would have stayed at his cousin's house down the street rather than be home alone with his gluttonous cat. Maybe he would go and stay at his cousin's tonight to hang out with Gajeel, but he also wanted to sleep in his own bed since it was a lot more comfortable than the Redfox's pullout bed in Metallicana's office which is where he supposedly slept.

Sighing, Natsu scratches the back of his head as he turns to go back to the kitchen wondering if he should continue making himself the peanut butter sandwich or just go to bed when he hears another creak right behind him. The noise makes him freeze as a chill runs up his spine.

_~Don't turn around~_

Just as the words ring inside his head, a hand drops down on Natsu's shoulder making the teenager jump and give a fearful yelp. He turns in time to find four pairs of startled eyes looking back at him weirdly.

"Yo flamebrain, it's just us," Gray says with his hands up in the air to show he was no threat, looking fearful of Natsu punching him again like he had done the day before.

Behind Gray, Gajeel has a few pizza boxes stacked in his arms while Jellal had two large bottles of soda in each hand. Laxus stood behind Jellal which was a strange sight since Natsu had thought that he'd be out with Mirajane.

"Don't you guys know how to knock?!" Natsu asks angrily while glaring at the quartet, the cold chill still running up and down his back.

"We did knock, but you never answered the door," Laxus says as he moves through the living room to take a seat in an armchair.

"So you just decided to break into my house?" Natsu asks while continuing to glare at the four males.

"I live here too so it doesn't count as breaking and entering," Jellal says with a shrug before passing Natsu the soda bottles to go get cups, "Also, the door was unlocked when we got here."

Natsu says nothing as he watches his friend and cousins go about their business seemingly ignoring his presence as they pass out cups and plates while picking out a horror movie Gajeel had recently bought. Natsu peeks up at the second-floor landing, which was dark, and shakes his head so that he's not thinking about the noises he had heard only moments before.

"What are you guys all doing here?" Natsu asks as he places the sodas on the coffee table and takes a seat beside Gajeel who hands him a box of pizza without tearing his eyes away from the screen.

"Bros night," Gray mutters while opening and pouring himself soda from where he sat on the ground.

"Ice princess was worried about the way you were acting yesterday apparently. Said he wanted t' check up on ya," Gajeel states before taking a large bite of pizza, "But I was curious on what I missed so I tagged along."

"There's nothing wrong with me," Natsu grumbles while nibbling on his slice of pizza and trying to fight off Happy who had appeared out of nowhere at the smell of more food.

"I'll say!" Gray exclaims while whirling around and pointing at his swollen and bruised left cheek, "You decked me in the face without warning!"

"That's not really news," Gajeel says while chuckling when a zombie gets their head sliced off in the movie. "Classic," he mumbles before taking a sip of his soda which Jellal had poured for him and the others.

"Why did you punch Gray Natsu?" Jellal then asks while taking his own seat in another armchair, paying no mind to the movie playing on the television.

Natsu looks at all the males watching him intently, feeling like maybe he _should_ tell them all about his dreams and what it was that was bothering him. However, he remembers Gray's talk in the infirmary and how easily it was that his friend had waved off the topic, making him feel silly. He didn't want that to happen again so Natsu simply shakes his head and says, "I don't want to talk about it," in a grave voice. This only leads all the males to give him worried looks.

No says anything after that and Natsu remains staring at the television where a woman wandered into a room without a care in the world, only to almost be trapped in the room when the door swings to shut behind her. Thankfully a friend of hers stops the door and they both run away in fear.

Natsu doesn't understand why he does it, but he then turns to look at Laxus who looks at the scene with a sad look on his face…

* * *

**So sorry that I'm barely updating today. I had forgotten to update on Friday like I had promised. For some odd reason I thought I already had but I hadn't lol. Still I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**It's full of filler content but if you've read my work before you know that every bit of information is important because it always comes back later on in the story, so try and make your guesses as to why I elaborated on Igneel's and Christabel's love story.**

**Anywho, if you want a visual representation as to what Christabel's clothing looks like, google 'Anathema Devices from Good Omens' as she is the inspiration for how I dressed up Christabel in my mind.**

**Also, just a mention that this story is based and inspired by a lot of different movies/shows I've watched over the years, but I will also be adding personal experiences that have happened throughout the years. Yes I am a believer and admirer of the paranormal and boy do I have stories to tell...**

**Shout Outs**

**Great amazing thanks to my Fantastic Favorites...**

**To my Fabulous Followers...**

**And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- shootingstarssel = I just realized that I always write off my characters having struggles, lol then again I'm an angsty writer who loves a happy ending... but will we have a happy ending this time? I guess we'll have to wait and see. Also, your guess is spot on lol.**

**\- stranger1999 = I hadn't even realized I had written Natsu with a sad background until I was revising this chapter and was like "oh..." but then again this is an angsty story like my other ones because I apparently love to make my characters suffer lol. There will be a few more Lucy POVs in the future, but for now we'll only have small clips.**

**\- Amanny = Thank you, I'm happy you liked it!**

**Well that's all the shout outs for today.**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	6. Chapter 5

"LET. GO. OF. ME!"

Jumping out of the room she had escaped into, the girl slams the door closed behind her when she is able to escape her assailants grasp. Panting in the empty hallways that glows in a dull orange light she has come to realize as this place's "daylight."

No other noise comes from the hallway while the girl catches her breath, and when she has finally caught her breath she tries to turn the doorknob of the door she just came out of.

Locked.

Sighing in relief, Lucy pushes her disheveled hair out of her face and brushes the knots out with her shivering fingers. She tries to take in a calming breath, but her hands continue to shake from what she encountered in the room, but at least she was safe from the creepy monsters that chased her at night. Thankfully this place had its moments where she was left alone, like right now where the only sign of life in the long winding hallways was herself.

She had never enjoyed being alone until she got to this place.

Remembering how it was that she got here, Lucy's heart clenches at the memory of a dare and a boy with kind eyes she had liked. She wondered if he was still looking for her, if her father even realized she was gone…

"Don't think about them… just think about surviving," Lucy scolds herself while shaking her head.

As much as she missed Macbeth and even her intimidating father, Lucy knew that thinking about them did not help with her. They were a distraction and if she had any hope of ever getting back to them she needed to remain focused on surviving and finding a way out.

Taking a step down the now changed hallway, Lucy finds stairs with the smell of food reaching her. Her stomach rumbles in response as she all but runs down the flight of stairs and finds herself in the kitchens where fresh food was waiting for her to take her fill. She doesn't wait to dig into the turkey sitting on the large counter and the sides that come with it, no longer worried if the food was poisoned. She'd learned a little while back that this food was perfectly safe to eat, but never really knew where it came from or who left it here. All she knew was that she had to eat before nightfall, when the food tried to eat _her_.

Lucy continues to eat when she hears a creak on the floorboards behind her. She freezes because no one is supposed to be roaming the halls and making noise except herself.

_~Don't turn around~_

She hears the warning in her head, but impulsively turns anyway to find nothing or no one behind her.

Lucy wondered if something in this cursed place was going to change, and wondered if it had something to do with what her "nightmare" behind the door had told her about no longer being alone…

Was someone coming to join her in this cursed world?

* * *

**Chapter 5**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

"RISE AND SHINE!"

Early morning sunlight bursts into the dark living room where the tired boys do their best to shield their eyes from blinding light. Each one sprawled on a different couch, save Jellal who must have snuck back to his room sometime in the middle of the night. Gajeel had taken up the three seater couch while Laxus took the loveseat. Natsu was curled up in one of the armchairs while Gray was curled up underneath the coffee table.

"I can't believe you boys are still sleeping," Erza's distinguishable voice follows after what the boys recognize to be Cana's loud annoyingly cheerful voice.

"Wha time issit?" Gajeel asks in a tired slur, searching around him for his phone.

"Seven in the morning," Mirajane says cheerily while reaching her boyfriend and planting a soft kiss on his temple and receiving a groan in return.

"THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!" Gray exclaims while popping his head out from under the coffee table littered in empty pizza boxes and plastic cups, "It's a weekend and you want us to wake up early?!" he asks in disbelief.

The trio of females look at one another before nodding with bright smiles, looking unaffected at the males' annoyance.

"How the hell did you even get in here?" Natsu asks while sitting up to squint at the girls, remembering Jellal had locked the door last night.

Erza twirls a set of keys in her finger and Natsu doesn't have to guess who it was that gave her those keys.

"I'm going to kill Jellal," he grumbles while searching the room for his missing cousin.

"Whaddya want?" Gajeel asks while glaring at the females. Unafraid of getting either one of them angry unlike Natsu and Gray who were all terrified of the red-head everyone at school called Titania.

"We came to pick you all up to have breakfast at 8-Island," Mirajane explains, "Everyone else is already on their way there to save us a table so you all have half an hour to get ready."

"By others, you mean…"

"Your girlfriends," Cana says with a smirk when Gajeel turns beet red and Natsu and Gray both answer with a blunt, "I don't have a girlfriend."

"Just hurry up and get ready," Erza commands before climbing the stairs to go and wake up her boyfriend.

Knowing there was no fighting the terrifying females, Natsu follows Erza upstairs to go to his room to change. When he gets there he can't help but crumple to the ground, shaking all over from the aftereffects of the recent nightmare he had had.

He'd had another nightmare while his friends and cousins were sleeping right beside him; however, this nightmare left him wondering what had happened because he couldn't remember anything about it. He only remembers there being darkness without any light around. The only thing he could distinguish was the sound of his name being called out as if from a great distance.

Natsu also remembers running towards the voice, but he never seemed to be able to reach it until suddenly he heard his name being whispered right next to his ear with the feel of a bony hand on his shoulder. The shock he had gotten from the feeling of a bony hand on his shoulder had woken Natsu up in the middle of the night around three in the morning.

The television had been left on with only static dancing on the bright screen signaling the end of the fifth movie the boys had watched, who were all now passed out around the living room. The sight of his friends and cousins had calmed Natsu's racing heart and reminded him that what he had just witnessed was a simple nightmare. Nothing was real and he was perfectly safe.

Attempting to shake off the feeling of the bony fingers on his shoulder, Natsu had gotten up to get a glass of water in the kitchen. The dull overhead stove light did little to bother his eyes as they adjusted rather quickly while he got his water. After that Natsu had walked back towards the living room only to stop dead in his tracks to stare at a lonely figure standing behind the couch Laxus was sleeping on.

From the dull white light of the still lit television, Natsu seemed to notice that the lonely figure was a girl dressed in a strange outfit. It looked foreign and a bit exposing with a green bra and matching long skirt with gold trim that stops just above her ankles. She seems to be wearing sandals on dirty feet and wonders that if there was more light than that coming from the television.

Around the girl's arms, Natsu recognized silver cuffs hugging the girl's biceps with bangles hanging from her wrists while long golden hair tied in a long braid hangs on her back. Looking at her closely, Natsu almost seems to recognize who she is… either way she seemed a bit beautiful. Appearing like an ethereal being.

The sound of jingling metal makes Natsu jump when the girl begins to turn towards him. Natsu waits with bated breath and chokes when the sight that greets him isn't a pleasant one.

Dark, blood encrusted holes greet Natsu, replacing the eyes that should be looking back at him instead. Blood dribbles from the holes in bloody tears as the girl moans out in pain and sorrow. It makes Natsu's chest hurt when she reaches a bruised and bloody hand towards him, almost as if she were begging for him to take her hand, but Natsu can't move.

_"I'm… scared," _the girl cries desperately, _"I'm so scared…"_

"Why?" Natsu asks, frozen in his spot and unable to look away from the crying girl.

_"I don't… want to be here anymore,"_ she murmurs while taking a step towards Natsu, causing his whole body to tense up.

"Where? You don't want to be where?" Natsu can't help but asks and swallowing hard when the girl stops just a foot away from him. Her fingertips slightly grazing his cheek feeling cold and sticky with blood.

_"Where we're meant to be together~_

Turning to run away from the terrifying figure, Natsu heads for the stairs, but stops when he finds a dark figure standing at the top of the stairs. It stares down at him with glowing eyes that seem to laugh at him and the last thing he hears is the girl's voice in his ear whispering, _"Please Natsu, come and save me!"_

Natsu was then awoken by the loud arrival of Cana, Mirjane, and Erza who were waiting downstairs for them to join them for breakfast. All the while Natsu was trying to get his wits about him and wonder who that girl was and why it was that he felt the need to find out who she was and how he could save her.

But how could he save her if he didn't know where she was

X

Startling blue eyes gaze across the table, watching Natsu stare out the nearby window. He had been grumbling all morning along with the other boys since they got to the restaurant who all wore matching faces of exhaustion. Each one unhappy at having been woken up at such early hours of the day.

"Your food is getting cold," Lisanna says while leaning her head on her hand.

Natsu blinks a few times before turning to look over at Lisanna, seeming as if barely remembering where he even was. It takes a minute before he looks down at his plate piled with food he didn't even remember ordering, then realized he didn't order anything. The waitress just simply brought it for him because it was what he always ordered. A stack of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and a slice of toast all heaped on his plate just the way he liked it.

"I'm not really all that hungry," Natsu murmurs while poking his pancakes with his fork.

Lisanna and all of their friends sitting in the booth behind Natsu jump in surprise and turn to stare at the pinkette's back while he continued to prod his food. They just couldn't believe what it was that they just heard.

Natsu Dragneel was _not_ hungry… impossible!

The last time Natsu had refused to eat was the four days after Igneel had been admitted at the hospital after his accident. Natsu had not left Igneel's side for those four days until Porlyusica scolded him and warned him that if he didn't eat properly she would personally make it so that he wouldn't be able to go and see his father. She'd even call child protective services and get him into a foster home if he didn't shape up, which he quickly did after that warning.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Lisanna asks with that worried look Natsu hated. It made his stomach churn just seeing his best friend look so troubled over his well-being.

"I'm fine Lis, just still can't seem to sleep well," Natsu answers while rubbing his face tiredly.

Lisanna still doesn't look convinced that what he's saying is true, so he forces a smile and digs into his food while trying to make it look like he was enjoying it. The food is cold and dry as Natsu tries hard to swallow down the food he shovels into his mouth. He only forces himself to finish half of what's on his plate and drink all his orange juice feeling even worse than he had earlier. His stomach hurts from being forced to take in food it didn't even want in the first place; however, Lisanna looks much happier that he's eaten something as she goes back to enjoy her own meal of oatmeal with fruit.

Watching his friend eat cheerfully, Natsu can't help but feel his spirits lower even more because of how happy and normal he wants to feel again. He knows that he's been down in the dumps a lot recently and he only seems to get worse. He doesn't want to be sad or tired or so mopey all the time, but he just doesn't know how to higher up his spirits. Every day just feels like a drag and he only ever feels like he's barely hanging on, and the fact his dad still hasn't woken up or that the nightmares don't let him rest doesn't help in the slightest. They only leave Natsu wondering when he'll ever be happy again so that he'd stop burdening everyone around him.

"The swelling in your cheek has gone down," Lisanna chirps cheerfully and Natsu unconsciously prods his cheek where Gray had decked him two days ago.

"Yeah, it has," Natsu murmurs while pushing his plate away and looking out of the window to his right, "It's going to be cold tonight," he then mentions while watching a light breeze rustle the orange leaves of a nearby tree.

"Yeah, that's what Mira said, but I think we'll still have fun," Lisanna says with a little jump in her seat, "I think this Halloween will be a lot of fun! And don't say that you're not going, remember that you promised that you'd hang out with us tonight," Lisanna interjects before Natsu could tell her that he was planning on staying at the hospital for the night.

He had completely forgotten that he had said he would go out with his friends. In fact, he had forgotten what day it was in general only remembering when he looked up to find all of the spooky decorations adorning the restaurant. He also remembered that his friends had been planning to hang out tonight for weeks, as was their tradition every year when Halloween came around and any other holiday they celebrated together.

"But..." Natsu tries to find a way out of the event, not feeling up to dressing up and going around the neighborhood and asking for candy or joining parties that they passed by. All he wanted was to go back to the hospital and spend the night with his dad, or even just go home and brave his nightmares. He just wanted more sleep.

"No buts mister. You promised!" Lisanna puffs her cheeks to show her resolve to get him to join their friends, and Natsu couldn't say no to her. Especially if she decided to go and tell the others that he was planning on ditching them which would not go well with Erza or Cana.

The guys would also probably drag him along kicking and screaming. After all, if _they_ were going to suffer being dragged around by the girls then so was Natsu. No one would get out of this no matter how much they complained or tried to run away. They all knew they wouldn't get too far.

"Fine," Natsu sighs and Lisanna smiles victoriously while she finishes her breakfast. All while Natsu continues to stare out of the window, watching leaves float gracefully through the air with last night's nightmare playing over and over in his head...

* * *

**So sorry to have disappeared on you all. I had planned on updating three weeks ago. I wanted to update the first week of March but due to midterms I had to push it back another week and then with all this chaos that has been going around due to the virus I've had to wait until now to update. Currently everything is going well here where I live, people are just insanely overbuying everything from toiletries to food. All of our schools have also been given extended spring breaks with university classes being moved online until further notice. I unfortunately still need to go to work, but currently that's all I need to do this week so hopefully if nothing goes wrong I should have another update for you either tomorrow or wednesday.**

**I'm also going to be posting a few short stories on my Wattpad account to give you guys more reading material while we wait out this "self-quarantine" phase of this epidemic, so go ahead and look out for that.**

**Anywho, I hope you all are doing well and taking precautionary measures to keep yourselves and your loved ones safe.**

**On another note, I am trying to portray depression as accurately as I can through Natsu and the struggles he is going through. Depression is a serious mental health issue that a lot of people brush aside when they see someone going through it. Telling themselves that they're fine when in reality they don't understand what a person is going through, the battles they are mentally fighting, to be able to wake up in the morning and get the things that need to be done for their own sake as well as the sake of those that they love. Also remember that just because someone look fine does not mean that they are not going through something troubling. Be kind and take the time to listen, or even just reminding those around you that you are there for them to help in any way that you can. Don't force them to talk if they don't want to say anything or force them to get help if they are not mentally prepared to receive that help. Simply stick by their side and let them know that they are heard, and if _you_ are going through depressive episodes, don't be afraid to seek help. I'm always here to listen and aid in any way I can if you ever need an ear and a little push.**

**Be kind, educate yourself, practice good mental health, End the stigma!**

**Shout Outs**

**Great amazing thanks to my Fantastic Favorite...**

**\- jessicadancer89**

**To my Fabulous Followers...**

**\- shootingstarssel**

**\- WeirdInsomniac**

**And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- ****shootingstarssel = We'll find out soon what exactly it is that is chasing Lucy. Natsu needs all the hugs in the world, especially during these trying times. Laxus' expression has a lot of meaning behind it, and perhaps soon we'll learn what that meaning is.**

**\- Amanny = She was the best and I'm happy you liked the chapter.**

**\- stranger1999 = I haven't fully decided on their relationship yet. I could make them cousins, friends, or acquaintances but I haven't yet decided which would be the best choice. More explanations on Lucy's disappearance will come out in further chapters. So many questions that will be answered... eventually lol.**

**Well that's all the shout outs for today!**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	7. Chapter 6

Everyone doesn't agree, but Natsu considers himself a patient person.

Growing up, he's had to go on more than one shopping spree with his aunt, cousin, as well as his friends such as Lisanna and Mirajane. Years of being dragged to retail stores by them and spending hours cooped up in the waiting rooms of changing rooms had helped strengthen Natsu's unpredictable patience. Waiting all those hours during all those years had given Natsu a deep understanding on how to wait for long periods of time without going crazy.

Of course, Natsu wasn't always alone during those dreadful trips or the only one to be dragged along to browse racks upon racks of women's clothing since Lisanna's older brother Elfman was also dragged to join them. Natsu even thinks that he's gained a sense of fashion for women after spending so much time in retail stores with Lisanna. So much so that he sometimes is the one that their female friends go to when asking for his opinion on an outfit that he unconsciously helps them pair with shoes and jewelry. A skill that has gotten his friends to make fun of him on more than one occasion, but he honestly didn't mind. Nor did he understand why men made such a big deal about helping out their girlfriends choose an outfit or walk around the shops.

When his help wasn't needed, Natsu and Elfman would simply sit in the waiting area in the changing room or browse around the store if there was a men's section to see if they found anything they liked. It was a strange hell that Natsu realized he would never get away from.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

"How much longer do you think they'll take?" Gray asks from where he's slumped over Gajeel's couch in the male's living room.

"It'll prob'ly be another hour or so," Gajeel grunts while keeping his eyes trained to the television where he was playing a fighting game with Jellal.

After eating breakfast at the restaurant, everyone went their own separate ways for the rest of the morning. It gave Natsu a chance to go visit Igneel at the hospital with Gajeel and his adopted sister Juvia while Metallicana was at work. The older Redfox had actually gone to pick them up after he got out of work to take them home where they would get ready, along with the others, before heading out for the night.

Currently, they were just playing the waiting game while the girls took their time to get ready in Juvia's room.

"They're still not out?" a tall burly man asks after emerging from the kitchen wearing a dark green jumpsuit covered in grease.

He has a beer in his equally grease-stained hands as he walks through the living room to stare at the television to watch his son's character get defeated by Jellal's own character. His steely blue eyes, almost white, are filled with mirth as he then turns to scan the room filled with exasperated teenage boys who were all bored and ready to go.

He receives a unision "no" from all of the boys, causing him to give a deep throaty laugh.

"Wait till you start dating," Jellal mutters to Natsu who returns a glower to his cousin.

"No boy, wait till you get married," Metallicana guffaws at the horror struck faces of the boys which leaves him laughing even harder.

"That ain't funny old man," Gajeel grumbles at his father who takes a swig of his beer and heads towards the garage door.

"Nothing's funny fer you," Metallicana jibes at Gajeel while smacking the back of his head as he walks by behind the couch. "Well good luck tonight boys, try not to get into too much trouble, especially you Natsu," Metallicana calls over his shoulder as he moves to walk out the door. No doubt on his way to the bar for the night shift as Natsu glowers at his uncle and shouting an insulted "hey" at the male who ignores him, "And you best take care of your sister," metallicana then says while pointing at Gajeel with a warning finger.

"Yeah, yeah I know," Gajeel grumbles back while rubbing the back of his head and glaring his piercing red eyes at his dad who returns the glare before disappearing through the door without another word. "Damn old man," Gajeel mutters before returning his gaze back towards the television where Jellal had started up another round.

Natsu sprawls himself on the ground in front of the television and scratches his bare shoulder while he watches both of his cousins play and brawl against each other in the videogame. After a few minutes he decides to cover his head with the hood of his cloak that encompasses his whole body up to his ankles like a massive blanket. He wants to take a nap, feeling extremely exhausted from having been woken up so early and not getting a chance to nap since then. He begins to feel himself slowly drift off slowly to sleep as he allows the heaviness from his body to take him under in hopes of relaxing for just a while.

_~It's almost time!~_

Jolting from the sound of a scratchy sing-song voice, Natsu pushes away his hood to find the girls rushing down the stairs in a wave of squeals and giggles. Each one runs around the living room talking over each other while looking for anything they might have forgotten downstairs while checking themselves one last time in the nearby mirror for any touch ups.

The boys keep their eyes on the television screen as the girls continue to race around one another to finish getting ready. Juvia is the only one who retracts herself from the girls to sit next to her brother looking sullen and a bit defeated.

She was dressed in a periwinkle blue princess dress with a small tiara sitting atop her short cornflower blue hair that was styled to curl a bit at the tips. She had on a light amount of makeup that wasn't overdone or too flashy which seemed to suit her since Juvia wasn't one to overdo anything that came with fashion.

"I told you not to fight them," Gajeel grunts while looking at his sister after beating Jellal at the next game.

Everyone knew that Juvia was a shy girl and hardly ever hanged out with Gajeel's friends unless they dragged her along. Recently that's been more the case with Juvia no longer finding any excuses to keep the overzealous girls from dragging her around to have fun. Thankfully Juvia never really minded hanging out with them, though she did prefer to sometimes just stay at home and be a hermit even when she knew it bugged her father when she did so.

"I think they overdid my makeup. It feels like I'm wearing so much of it," Juvia says while ducking her head glumly.

"Nonsense, you look great," Gray says while eyeing the blushing girl sitting between him and Gajeel, "Whoever did your makeup knew what they were doing. You look beautiful."

Steam seems to burst from Juvia's ears as her face and ears burns a bright pink.

Natsu opens his mouth to tease his cousin, who couldn't be more obvious at having a crush on that loser ice princess, but one look from Gajeel kept him quiet. The last thing they needed was for her to feel more self-conscious about herself and lock herself in her room.

"Natsu!" Turning at the sound of his name, Natsu looks up to find Lisanna standing in front of him scantily dressed in what he imagined was a cat costume. "What do you think?" she asks while giving a twirl and swishing around her furry tail that was attached to her shorts.

Squinting his eyes, Natsu can tell that Lisanna was trying to catch his attention with the skimpy costume, though he didn't understand why. Didn't she know it was going to be really cold tonight? Hadn't they talked about how cold it was going to be in the morning?

"What are you supposed to be?" Natsu asks without thinking.

Drooping her shoulders, Lisanna crosses her arms across her chest with a frown. "I'm a cat," she mumbles through her pout before walking away towards where the girls were all congregated around the mirror.

"Way to go flame brain," Gray taunts from his seat on the couch but Natsu simply returns a blank stare.

Truthfully, Natsu had realized what she was from the cat ears and tail, but he couldn't help saying otherwise. He could have amused her by at least trying to guess, but due to lack of sleep he really wasn't in the mood to be lifting the spirits of others. Natsu honestly only wanted for this day to end so that he could go back home and sleep until Thanksgiving arrived. Without nightmares of course.

Heaving a heavy sigh, Natsu stands and fixes his cloak which had gotten lopsided when he was lying down. He watches the girls finish getting ready and then begin to rush the guys to finish their game so that they could leave already with Cana leading everyone towards the door. A cold breeze hits them when they open the door, but the girls don't complain as they shrug on their jackets and walk out to brave the cold night.

* * *

Peering around a corner, Lucy surveys the dark and empty hallway lit up by the gaslights lining the walls. It's empty other than the doors lining the walls and dusty furniture and that fact only leaves her on edge. Simply because by this hour she was already being chased down hallways until she either entered a room full of nightmares or found the door with the golden knob.

The silence made her panic.

It was unpredictable, dangerous, and for once she wanted to hear the tell-tale sound of her constant pursuer's laughter. Just so that she knew where they were and in which direction to run, but there was nothing. Noting in sight and no noise except her feet shuffling down the carpeted corridors, the rustling of her clothing, and her soft breathing.

"Where the hell are you?" Lucy questions under her breath as she continues to search the walls with the golden knob. The only door, she had found, to be a safe haven so long as you remained in there. Free of monsters and nightmares, but also free of food which is why she always needed to get out and risk losing the door to be able to feed herself when her rations ran out.

As she continues to make her way down hallway after hallway, Lucy eventually hears something.

It's too far to hear distinctly, but she hears it. The tell-tale sign of a door opening and closing...

She was the only one to ever be able to open any of the doors that this manor had...

So _who _could have opened a door?

* * *

The rustling of the leaves overhead can barely be heard due to the loud chatter of the overzealous teenagers making their way up a long-abandoned road. They all make their way sluggishly up the road, tripping over weeds and potholes that cross their path, yet they carry on in their mission.

It had been quite a long while since the road had seen any guests pass by, especially teenagers who were undoubtedly looking for trouble.

"Yew guysh are sho shlow," Cana, already inebriated from the liquor no one even knew she had been carrying with her, slurs from the front of the group next to an annoyed Gray and Laxus who were all leading the party. "Hurry *_hic_* hurry b'fore you're left behind."

"Why are we doing this again?" Levy, who clutches onto Gajeel and eyeing everything that moves along the road with a wary eye, asks.

"Because Cana thought it would be fun," Mirajane chirps from the front of the group where she was walking alongside her boyfriend, "We've lived in Magnolia all our lives and we've never even gotten a glimpse of the manor except in the old photographs at the library."

"W-what if we get caught?" Levy asks worriedly, tightening her hold on Gajeel who pats her arm to try and calm her down, "You all know it's illegal to go anywhere near that place. Don't you guys remember the story Gray told?"

Turning at the sound of his name, Gray gives Levy a curious look.

"It was just a story Lev. It wasn't real, if not everyone would have torn that place to the ground to find that girl," Gray assures the small bluenette who didn't look convinced at all with that explanation.

"Don't worry shrimp," Gajeel's booming voice assures his girlfriend, "If the fuzz does show up, I'll make sure you don't get caught. I'm a master at getting out of sticky situations after all."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Levy says with a pout, but continues to let her boyfriend guide her along with the rest of the group that makes their way up the road. Mindful of any police cars that might be on patrol.

"I'm surprised you agreed to this Erza," Natsu calls out to the redhead currently walking next to him, "I'da thought you of all people would've said no to this."

Erza simply shrugs which worries Natsu. Erza and Levy were one of the two most rule-abiding citizens Natsu had ever met, with Erza constantly trying to get the group to abide by the rules as well. If it were any other night that Gajeel would have suggested they go and check out the haunted manor, Erza would have been the first to shut down the idea. Except this time _she_ had been the one to suggest the outing after everyone had expressed their boredom at midnight when all parties and trick-or-treating were slowly dying out.

"If it makes you feel better Levy, we won't go beyond the gate," Erza suggests with an easy tone.

Levy no longer complains and even seems to look a bit more at ease after Erza's assurance that they would remain on the side of the road and not enter private property.

"Look, we're almost there," Jellal says from near the front as a tall crumbling brick wall with wrought iron gates come into view.

Near the rusting gate, Natsu notices a dark figure staring through the bars of the old gate and presumably staring up the road that led to the manor. From what Natsu could see as the group got nearer was that the man had strangely black and white dyed hair. He seemed to be wearing a leather jacket and dark makeup on making Natsu wonder if he was dressed up for the holiday or that was his normal attire.

A hand covered in several pieces of silver rings holds the gate tightly with the male's face still facing away from the oncoming group who had yet to notice the lone figure. The male doesn't seem to pay much attention to the approaching group as Natsu's sensitive ears hear the man whisper, "Oh how the sun misses thy golden beauty, unreachable star," before the male ducks his head and releases his hold on the gate when he hears the group approaching.

The group stops in their tracks when they notice the male lift the collar of his jacket up to try and shield his face. He turns in the direction the teenagers had just come from and hurries down the path with his hands buried deep in the pockets of his jacket.

When his piercing red eyes turn to look at the group gawking at him they all turn around immediately and a few even walk a bit faster. Natsu notices that the lone male makes eye contact with Laxus and stares at him for a long while before turning to leave without saying a word.

"Do you know him?" Natsu can't help ask when he notices Laxus' gaze still lingering on the retreating figure.

"No," Laxus grunts before turning to follow the rest of the group that was now gathering around the rusted wrought iron gates.

"What's wrong?" Natsu hears Gajeel ask and turns to find that Juvia was also watching the retreating male with a curious look in her eye.

"I know him from somewhere…" Juvia says, more to herself than to her brother who looks from her to the male now far too gone to see clearly in the night, "It must be my imagination," Juvia then says while shaking her head and turning to let her brother lead her towards the group.

Natsu lingers a while longer, looking in the direction the male had disappeared and wondering why it was that man had been here and why the sight of him made his stomach churn. So far that Natsu could remember, he didn't know the man, but apparently Laxus and Juvia might which only piqued Natsu's curiosity further.

"Hey Salamander, if you don't hurry you're going to be left behind," Gajeel calls out to his cousin who was now the only one left in the middle of the road.

"Sorry," Natsu mutters before finally looking away from the empty road to catch up with his friends who were all gathered around the gate.

Each person attempts to peer through the rusted bars to get a glimpse of the old mansion that lies atop of the hill at the end of the creepy winding road. Ivy, as thick as rope, winds its way through the loops in the gate and keeping it sealed along with the "CAUTION" tape wrapped around the various warning signs that mentioned the upcoming demolition of the building.

Looking through the openings in the gate, the land before them is desolate and dead with dried up weeds and leaves that cover the cold ground. The looming trees on both sides of the long driveway hang over the road as if ready to snatch up any trespassers. The sight of the land leaves chills running up and down the spines of the onlookers who jump at the sounds of a hooting owl nearby. Even the clatter of a drifting can is a frightening sound with an eerie scene as this one. The desolate road almost screamed at the teenagers to turn back and never return.

"This place is creepy," Lisanna whimpers as she hugs her arms and shivers, "This isn't as fun as I thought it would be," she admits while Natsu unconsciously wraps an arm around her to help calm her down like he used to when they were little.

Lisanna was a brave girl who wasn't afraid to face any challenge that came her way, but even she had limitations that sometimes involved the hot-headed teen to keep her from breaking down. In return, Lisanna would help keep Natsu in check and out of as many fights as she could.

"Th-there… we saw the mansion… N-now we can all go h-h-home," Levy stammers while tearing herself away from the gate to hide behind Gajeel who only gives her a smile without mocking her for her fear. He thought she looked adorable using him as a shield and it only filled him with pride and happiness that she trusted him so much.

Everyone seems to agree with Levy and thinking that they should all head back, except – of course – the drunken Cana who raises her hands in the air and states a quick "I know what will make this trip interesting!" before climbing up the nearby brick wall before anyone could stop her.

"Cana!" everyone screeches when the brunette disappears over the wall and reappears on the other side of the gate, clearly having ignored the warning signs of the fines one could get if caught trespassing.

"Well this definitely got more interesting," Laxus laughs before following Cana's lead and followed by Mirajane who only laughs when Levy tries to stop her from following the other two idiots.

Levy almost faints when she watches Jellal, Erza, Elfman and Juvia all climb over the wall with smiles on their faces.

"Juvia get back here!" Gajeel nearly chokes when he notices his sister disappearing over the wall and doesn't think twice before scurrying up over the wall while muttering, "The old man is going to kill me," before disappearing as well with Gray who follows suit.

Natsu, Lisanna and Levy are the only ones left on the abandoned road while their friends peer at them from the other side of the gate. Natsu hadn't even realized that almost everyone was on the other side trying to get them to follow until he saw Erza jumping giddily on her toes that he realized it was alright to go check out the other side. Without much prompting he makes his way towards the wall where everyone climbed over when he is suddenly stopped by Lisanna who holds onto him with incredible strength.

"Natsu, let's go home," Lisanna pleads, her eyes filled with fear while her whole body shook and Natsu had to guess that it wasn't from the cold.

On any given day, Natsu would have listened to Lisanna. He would have taken her hand and left back the way they had come and taken Levy along so that she wouldn't feel pressured to go with the others. He was the one who enjoyed taking care of his friends by being strong for them when they needed him, but this time was different.

He felt a strange sensation that was pulling him to climb over the wall and join his friends. He could feel their echoing taunts to join them swimming in his head and although he was not one to fall to peer pressure, he _wanted_ to follow along this time.

He _needed_ to go over the wall and play…

"Come on Lis, it'll be fun," Natsu says with a playful smile while trying to tug Lisanna along and the girl freezes.

It's been weeks since Lisanna had seen a genuine smile on Natsu's face, and this time he was radiating and shining like he used to with that playful smile that she knew so well. The smile should be comforting her, but instead it filled her with dread and fear and she didn't know what to do to convince him not to go over the wall.

Why did his smile make her feel like she was going to lose him forever?

"Natsu please. I have a really bad feeling about this… what if something goes wrong?" Lisanna pleads, nearly on the verge of tears.

Now normally Natsu would listen to Lisanna's gut feelings because throughout the years he has come to learn that most of her gut feelings tended to keep them out of trouble. Lisanna has always been right about good and bad situations before and has even saved his life on several occasions; however, this time Natsu couldn't ignore the force still pulling him in the direction of the manor. It scared him, but his curiosity only made him feel excited as to what it was that awaited them on the other side. For the first time in his life, Natsu doesn't want to listen to Lisanna…

"Don't be silly Lis," Natsu laughs as he pulls his hand gently out of Lisanna's slackening grip, "Nothing is going to happen," he assures her while ruffling her hair before climbing the wall and jumping to the other side that somehow feels as if it's easier to breathe.

Lisanna's heart sinks as she watches the boy she loves, who didn't even know her feelings for him, climb over the crumbling wall and disappear. All she could do was pray to the greater powers above for her uneasiness to be wrong just this once as she followed Levy to join the others on the other side.

* * *

**We're getting close to when midnight strikes... This chapter was a lot of fun to write and I would have gotten it up earlier today but the parentals decided that our house needed a thorough cleaning since we're quarantined here until further notice. Anywho, how is y'all's self-quarantine going so far?**

**Shout outs**

**Great amazing thanks to **** my Fantabulous Reviewers... **

**\- Meow Orbit = Ooh, very good insight. I'm glad you caught on! And yeah, things are weird over here as well with people in full panic mode especially since we recently got a confirmed case so that's scary, but we'll get through this together!**

**\- shootingstarssel = Such wonderful questions that will be answered with time my dear. I also love your insight and you're not too far off with where I'm going with this. I'm also happy that my story is a nice distraction during these trying times. I'll keep churning as many chapters as I can for you all to help us all pass the time and keep the worry at bay.**

**\- Amanny = It will be a while before we find out the truth, but this story isn't going to be as long as my previous ones... maybe lol, but we'll see how this all plays out together.**

**\- stranger1999 = Thank you, I'm happy that my horror writing is good enough to give you all chills. My many years of watching horror films is really paying off lol. Thank you for letting me know about that POV switch I accidentally did. I already fixed it, but wouldn't have if you hadn't let me know so thank you once again! Yes, our children will meet soon in the dark world, I estimate it might be in around chapter 7 or 8 when they finally meet, but we'll have to wait and see.**

**Well that's all the shout outs for today!**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies and please stay safe out there!**


	8. Chapter 7

The other side of the gate was a whole different world.

It was darker here and far more eerie than Natsu had ever imagined after the countless stories he had heard about the teenagers who would sneak onto the grounds like they were doing now. The air, however, felt easier to breathe for Natsu and he didn't understand why or even realize that he had had a weight on his chest this entire time. It felt a little freeing to be here and that scared Natsu, but not enough to get him to turn and go back from where he had come.

Above their heads, the mangled tree branches of the trees that lined the driveway creaked in the wind. The twisted trees looked like they had faces carved into expressions of fear and screams that made a few of the teenagers shiver, but they refused to leave. Instead they all made their way up the driveway and through the weed and hole covered driveway until the manor could finally be seen through the cracks in the branches.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

"This place is creepy," Jellal muses while eyeing one of the nearby trees that look like it was reaching out towards them, "How long do you think it's been since these trees have been dead?" he then asks Erza who snaps a small branch off a nearby tree.

"Probably many years," she answers while taking her boyfriend's hand and moving forward with the group that huddles close to one another.

"Any cweepier leshends you know bout dis plashe?" Cana, who was drunkenly leading the procession, asks from the front of the group while Gray scratches his head to think.

Gray thinks for a moment, wondering what else he had heard around about the old manor but not really coming up with anything. He had only remembered the story about the girl that disappeared and just the regular history of the manor that the whole town knew about.

Phantom Lord Manor was old, abandoned, no one ever really visited it, and it was set to be demolished in a week's time to build a new retirement home. Other than that, everything else was just stories that were told to scare children to behave and to keep meddling teenagers like them to stay away.

"Supposedly the ghost of Jose Porla still haunts the old manor," Gray finally says after a minute of silent thinking, "He was apparently killed in his sleep many years ago by a robber and now wanders aimlessly through the hallways of his home in search of the person who killed him."

"I thought he wash hanged?" Cana asks while leaning on the male, looking a bit disoriented and completely out of it.

"Wasn't he burned?"

"I heard he was poisoned!"

"My dad said that his servant was the one that killed him in order to inherit the manor-"

"-You're wrong, haven't I already told you that it was a robber that killed him?!"

"Just because you're the one who is always talking about the place doesn't mean that you're an expert!"

Suddenly, everyone is arguing with one another and filling the silence with bickering that only seems to increase the closer they get to the mansion. Each person just about ready to start a fight in the middle of the abandoned grounds until Juvia speaks up.

"Jose isn't the one who haunts the manor," Juvia, who had been completely quiet up to this point, speaks up causing everyone else to grow silent.

"How would you know?" Elfman asks while staring at the bluenette who was staring at the manor from where they all stood at the line of trees at the edge of the driveway a few meters away from the manor.

"Because I've seen them before, walking through the manor at night, and it isn't Jose Porla," Juvia says simply, "I've seen his portrait enough times to know. The old headmistress used to have the portrait hang on the wall in the dining hall where 'he could watch over all of you' while we ate."

Juvia shudders along with the others at the thought of having an old dead guy's portrait looking down on you every single day while you ate. It was especially terrifying to imagine since everyone in the group knew about the prestigious Phantom Lord family that once used to be the wealthiest family in Magnolia before they died off about some years ago. Portraits of previous Phantom Lord members decorated many of the historic buildings littered throughout Magnolia. Jose Porla's portrait was always especially disturbing, but no one ever understood why.

He had been the last living Phantom Lord member and after his untimely death every property he owned was passed down to a close friend of his. That friend had then helped donate many properties to the city and also turned the old Phantom Lord manor into Magnolia's first orphanage. He had then erected a new orphanage behind the manor while remaining in the mansion until his disappearance. No one ever knew what had happened to that man…

"You used to live in the orphanage that was on the other side of the manor, no?" Mirajane asks Juvia without thinking, everyone remembering suddenly that Juvia was not Gajeel's biological sister. Instead she had been adopted when she was around nine years old by Metallicana.

Gajeel knew that Juvia had a lot of knowledge of the manor from when she lived in the orphanage that was now abandoned as well. The old building could not be seen from here or the road as the forest behind the manor that separated it from the orphanage covered the old building. Juvia had lived in the decrepit old building most of her life before the orphanage had been moved down the road to be closer to Magnolia and not in the middle of the woods. A month after the move she had been adopted.

"Yes," Juvia answers distantly while eyeing the manor again, "I used to sneak out of the orphanage at night and play by the old swings near the back of the manor, and sometimes I could see strange figures walking by the windows when there was a full moon."

_Much like tonight_, she thinks to herself.

"In fact, I still sometimes sneak up here whenever my father is at work late and Gajeel is fast asleep," she admits which causes Gajeel to bristle up with rage.

"I knew you sneaked out of your room!" he growls angrily, but Juvia doesn't seem affected by his anger. She was one of the few people who wasn't intimidated by her brother's furious outbursts which only made Gajeel get even angrier.

Juvia simply shrugs at her brother's apparent rage while turning her gaze back towards the manor she remembers gazing at for a long time. Watching groups of reckless teenagers, like themselves, walk through the grounds and dare one another to enter the crumbling building. A building that legends have said to claim many.

"Wasn't there a man who owned all of Phantom Lord's property after Jude's death?" Lisanna asks while clutching onto Natsu's cape and leaning into him, her eyes skittering around the dark driveway at every mangled tree.

"Yeah, isn't he the one who donated everything to the city and lived in the manor after turning it into an orphanage?" Elman asks Mira who ponders the question, but is unable to remember what that man's name was.

"Whatever happened to that man?" Gray turns to ask Juvia who seemed to be leading the group now.

"No one knows," she says before stopping to turn and look back at the group. She stands outside of the canopy of the trees, her body covered underneath the glow of the moon that made her look ominous as she says, "His body was never found," before turning and walking up the rest of the path that revealed how close they now were to their destination.

Shivers run up and down everyone's spines that have all of the teenagers looking at one another before hurrying behind their leader.

The large mansion looms over the group that gapes up at the decrepit building. Grime encrusted windows show little to nothing that lies within the house and the main front door is closed tightly, seemingly sealed. Ivy and moss crawl all along the exterior of the building while also snaking their way into the building through cracks in the walls and broken windows. It was a terrifying sight to behold that held everyone captivated. Especially when the moonlight caused shadows to dance all around them.

Everyone quickly disperse to check around the front lawn of the mansion from the broken statues and torn down fountain to the stone steps leading up to the large mansion doors. Graffiti and broken beer bottles littered many parts of the mansion and the group wondered if any more teenagers would stop by the mansion tonight. Most of them were actually surprised that there hadn't been a party planned to be done in the woods around the manor, seeming how this would be the last good night to have one here. Especially with the demolition happening soon.

Breaking off from the main group, Gray makes his way towards the withering building with his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his pants. Natsu follows him and they both stare at the large doors tightly shut in front of them, wondering if there was any way to open them. They both wondered if there was a possibility of going inside.

After a few minutes of contemplating, both boys look at each other and with a silent nod of agreement proceed to push the door.

Surprisingly, the door opens without any difficulty, creaking precariously as it smoothly swings open, unsettling both boys who stare with wide eyes at the dimly lit foyer.

"Don't go too far inside," they hear Erza's warning a few feet behind them who turned to face them at the sound of the door opening, "The wooden floors may give out on you, causing you to break your necks with the fall."

"Yes mom," Gray grumbles only loud enough for Natsu to hear to chuckles while poking his head through the doorway to get a better look inside. "But she's probably right, we shouldn't go in there in case something happens."

"Scared ice princess?" Natsu mocks while eyeing the boy from the corner of his eye.

"AS IF!" Gray fumes while whirling on Natsu and glaring at him with all the fury he could muster, "I was the one who suggested we come here!"

"Get your facts straight you pervert, Gajeel was the one to suggest we come here," Natsu counters while shoving his face into Gray's angry one so that they could glare at one another better.

"You calling me a liar?!"

"I'm calling you an idiot!"

"YOU WANNA FIGHT?!

"AS IF YOU'D WIN!"

"Will you two just stop?!" Lisanna cries while trying to shove herself between the two knuckleheads after rushing to them when they started yelling. Their yelling ricocheting through the open doorway and bouncing all around the empty hallways that stir with the noise.

Grabbing Gray from behind, Gajeel tries to hold onto the raven-haired teen to keep him from punching the other fuming boy who was barely being held back by Lisanna. Still, Lisanna fights to get Natsu under control who only seems to shake with range and tensing up to get ready for the blows to come towards him.

He's itching for a fight.

"ICE PRICK!"

"MORON!"

"PERVERT!"

"COWARD!"

"I AM NOT A COWARD!" Natsu roars, nearly taking down Lisanna as he steps forwards with an offended angry look covering his face.

"Then prove it!" Gray taunts while continuing to fight against Gajeel's hold, not really realizing the implications his words lead to until he watches Natsu break free from Lisanna's hold and storm through the open doorway into the mansion's foyer. He doesn't even realize when he's said until the darkness swallows up Natsu whole causing his stomach to drop in panic.

"Natsu you idiot, what the hell do you think you're doing?!" Erza shrieks while rushing up the steps with the others right behind her.

"Get your ass back over here this instant you moron!" Gray shouts along with the others, the sound of panic evident in his voice as he and Gajeel rush forward to try and grab a hold of the fuming teen who only storms in further into the foyer. He doesn't seem to be able to hear the yelling behind him, as if their screams were being swallowed up by the darkness around him.

Natsu then laughs when he reaches the center of the foyer, cackling manically with his hands on his hips while throwing his head back looking as if he were a victor, "Look who is scared now ya bunch of babies," he teases while turning to look at his friends who all watch him from the doorway, fearful of going in after him.

They all eye the foyer with wary eyes, not knowing if it is safe to walk in to go after the pink-haired idiot, especially when the floor were so deteriorated that they wondered how Natsu hadn't already fallen through. They were also scared of the stories they'd heard of people disappearing inside the manor.

"Come on guys, there's nothing to be afraid about," Natsu insists as he continues to watch his terrified friends try to urge him to return.

"N-Natsu… you… you've p-proved your val… valor, now… p-please come back so… so we can go home," Lisanna pleads with tears in her eyes as she makes to step into the house after him, not noticing that Natsu had stopped gloating and was standing frozen in the middle of the manor.

Remaining quiet for a second, Natsu takes a step forward with a frown on his face and saying, "Alright, let's go," feeling absolutely horrible for worrying Lisanna to the point of tears. "Sorry for making you worry Lis," Natsu apologizes while everyone sighs in relief as he gets closer to them. He honestly doesn't know what came over him or why he had gotten so angry. Usually Gray's insults caused him to throw the first punch rather than to rush into a crumbling down building.

Lisanna smiles and takes his hand in both of hers when Natsu is close enough.

"It's ok," she says with a wavered smile, "the good thing of all of this is that everyone was able to have fun, right?" she asks the group who give halfhearted nods, but Natsu can tell she's still scared. He can feel her hands shaking while holding his.

He feels bad for dragging Lisanna here to the mansion when she was so clearly scared, and felt even worse for scaring her by storming into the building. This whole ordeal wasn't as fun as he thought it would have been, but then he realizes he didn't know what he was expecting to happen when they got here. He didn't know if he had been looking for something or was waiting for something to happen, but whatever it was it wasn't to make his best friend cry.

"Let's go home," Natsu whispers and everyone nods in agreement. They all turn to head down the stone steps, but when Natsu takes a step outside of the mansion he freezes on the spot. It causes Lisanna to be pulled back when she tries to turn to leave.

Pushing her hand away and almost making her fall, and she isn't prepared to see the pure terror painted on Natsu's face when she turns to reprimand him. She screams at the way Natsu's face has whitened as if he'd seen a ghost and the others immediately turn to look at them from where they've gotten close to the line of trees that lined the driveway.

"Natsu what's wrong?" Lisanna asks, her panicked voice loud enough for the others to turn around to witness their friends struggling at the doorway.

"That's not funny Natsu. Come on let's go!" Cana, surprisingly sobered up by the whole experience, yells at the boy with her arms crossed in irritation, "We're going home already!"

"Yeah man, this joke has gotten old real quick," Gray grunts while turning to leave, clearly not interested in spending another second dealing with Natsu's antics. He is surprised to see Juvia rush past him towards the house with panic making her eyes wide.

"Lis… run" Natsu grunts as he tries with all his might to pull himself through the doorway while his left foot is pulled back as if caught on something he can't turn back to see.

"Natsu! Don't let go!" Natsu hears Juvia's yell and looks up to find the bluenette rushing towards them with her brother close behind.

His blood runs cold when he hears familiar laughter rush up his back and float into his ear. It's the kind of laughter that always resonates within his nightmares and embeds itself into his skin and leaves goosebumps. The laughter that the creepy dolls make when he's being chased down hallways and leave him running for his life.

Laughter that should be in his nightmares and not be heard when he was awake… and right now he was awake…

~We'VE gOt yOU nOw~

Natsu looks up at Lisanna, who futilely pulls an arm to help him, just as both his feet are pulled into the darkness, causing him to fall and hit his chin on the ground. Stars swim across his vision, but he forces his eyes open just as Juvia and Gajeel rush up the stone steps while Lisanna continues to pull his left hand that she's still holding and pulling with all her strength. Gajeel and Juvia reach for his hand that still clutches onto the doorframe, but Natsu is pulled into the mansion, though not before she shoves Lisanna to get her to let go. The last thing he wanted was to drag her in with him and the door slams closed as he's pulled further into the darkness, shutting out Lisanna's screams along with any light pouring into the room.

That's the last thing Natsu remembers before losing consciousness.

* * *

**So I know it's been over two months and I am so sorry for the wait. This quarantine really threw everything off balance for all of us and adjusting to this change has been a doozy what with work letting a lot of us go, school being moved online, having to focus on taking care of children while still doing work/school online, and many other issues. I tried to get back as soon as I could with a new chapter after finishing up my semester and thankfully I'm finally back.**

**I passed my classes, thankfully, and spent two weeks just giving myself a moment to take a break from writing so many essays. I also took time to check up on myself mentally to make sure I was in a good place to come back to writing, and thankfully we're here! I also would have updated sooner but Animal Crossing has taken over my life a bit lol.**

**Anywho, I hope you all are doing well and can't wait to hear from you all again, and if you guys need an ear to listen to any troubles you are going through my PM box and Instagram messenger are always open! Don't feel like you're a bother because you are not! I treasure all of my readers and want to help in any way that I can during these trying times.**

**I also want to give a quick shout out to my Fantabulous Followers, Favorites, and Reviewers because you all give me the inspiration to continue writing! I love you all and I'll see you in the next chapter coming out soon!**

**Until next time my lovelies!**


	9. Chapter 8

It's dark… that's the first thing that crosses Natsu's mind when he regains consciousness and feels like his head is going to split into two when he tries to move.

His head feels like it's under water, fuzzy and disoriented with the room swaying without pause. It takes a while before the dark world around him settles enough that he can think somewhat straight and realizes that he's on the ground. He wonders why he's on the floor and not in bed curled up with Happy. He doesn't remember how he even got to the floor nor why everything was so dark and why everything hurt. The last thing he remembered was trick-or-treating with his friends and then heading up to the Phantom Lord mansion to check out the crumbling building before…

Wincing at the pain that comes from his chin, Natsu prods the sore spot while quickly remembering everything that had transpired before he blacked out. The memories remind him that he is not home and the pain only validate his memories because he knew the difference between a punch to the face and when he slammed his face into the ground. The pain he felt came from the latter.

The thing that bugged him from his memories is the realization that he had _purposefuly_ let go of the doorframe when Juvia and Gajeel had gotten to him. He had also pushed and let go of Lisanna and at first he thought it was to save her but realizes that that isn't the case. He doesn't know why he let go instead of allowing his friends to help him, and that thought bothers him.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

Pushing those thoughts aside, Natsu tries to look around the room he is in while sitting up, but he can't see a thing. He then runs his hands along the ground and wrinkles his nose when the stench of mildew and something rotten hits his senses, but he continues to search the ground.

He finds wooden boards that make up the ground beneath him. The wood feels springy and creaks underneath him when he shifts his weight which sets in panic at the thought of the wood giving out, causing him to fall to his death, but the wood does not give out. It only continues to creak as Natsu continues to search through the darkness until he hits a wall made out of stone from the cool feel of it.

Pausing in his search, Natsu mentally slaps himself when he remembers his phone in his pocket. Not only that, but he also had a flashlight in his backpack hidden underneath his cape which held the candy he got from trick-or-treating along with a water bottle and a few other essentials. A lighter, portable phone charger, and lighter were a few of the essentials. Natsu never went anywhere without them in case of emergencies like this one.

Reaching around himself, he digs into one of the pockets outside of his backpack and pulls out the small flashlight and turns it on to illuminate the dark room. It's empty without a single piece of furniture in the small room other than a door on the opposite end of where Natsu was sitting. Being able to see where he is slightly relieves Natsu, but the churning in his stomach doesn't end since he's still trapped.

Looking around the room again, Natsu then slowly crawls along the creaking floor, being cautious on where he puts his hands and how much weight he puts where. It takes a while before he gets to the other side of the room, but once he's at the door he stands up slowly and then proceeds to turn the knob and open the door.

Beyond the door is pitch black darkness and the little light his flashlight produces shows that it is a hallway that leads to another door not too far away.

Staring at the empty hallway, Natsu wonders what it is that he should do. Should he continue down the hallway towards the other door or remain in this room? The answer is made for him when he hears the wood begin to splinter under him and jumps into the hallway before the floor can give out beneath him. He doesn't even get the chance to see if the floor did give out when the door suddenly shuts behind him and locking immediately.

Taking a moment to gather his bearings, Natsu takes a deep breath before making his way cautiously down the hallway towards the other door. It isn't until he's halfway through the hallway that he realizes that the floor under him isn't rotten wood. Instead the wooden floor seemed to be intact and looked almost new, which was strange. He wondered how the room's floor could be rotten while this floor looked as if it were barely made. It just piled more questions onto Natsu's growing list.

Reaching the other door, Natsu turns back from where he came to see if the other door was there; however, nothing but inky darkness that the light from his flashlight cannot penetrate greets him. It reminds him of the inky darkness from the nightmare he had in the gymnasium what feels like it happened eons ago.

Natsu tries not to dwell on the missing door and consuming darkness. He's trying with all his might to remain calm and focused on the situation at hand because he knows that the last thing he needed was to have a panic attack. The whole situation felt familiar and he allowed the familiarity to keep him grounded instead of allowing his head to start creating situations in his head. He kept it quiet while he turned back around to open the door in front of him, holding the cool black doorknob for a second before turning it and pushing the door open.

Upon opening the door, Natsu nearly doubles over at what waits for him on the other side of the doorway. A long corridor passes by the doorway identical to the one he's been dreaming for months now. He feels the room tilt and crashes into the doorframe which helps keep him steady while he tries to control his breathing.

"_Stop being such a damn wuss_," Natsu berates himself under his breath, imagining Gray or any of his other friends being the one to tell him those words to help him gain courage.

He knew that if he allowed himself to give in to his panic nothing good would come out of this situation he placed himself in. If this was anything like the nightmares he had he only had a short amount of time before _they_ showed up.

After finally getting his breathing under control, Natsu straightens himself and slowly peeks out through the doorway to look both right and then left. He finds nothing but a long expanse of hallway stretching on both sides and takes a moment to decide in which direction he was going to start walking in. He chooses right and steps out into the hallway only to jump when the door shuts close behind him and he whirls around to find a long Mirror casting his reflection back at him rather than the door he came in through.

Natsu catches the scared look that his reflection throws at him, but he can't see his eyes. This only prompts him to turn and keep his gaze trained on the carpet before him illuminated with the flashlight in his hand. He continues to avoid any other mirror he passes but doesn't ignore the portraits of people he doesn't recognize. Many who look important with clothing that don't fit the current century and he wonders if these portraits were from the past members of the Phantom Lord family.

Other than the portraits and mirrors, the hallway is also lined with small decorative tables that hold candelabras with unlit candles in them as well as expensive looking vases filled with dead flowers. Cobwebs and a thick layer of dust that also floats in the air covers everything and it makes Natsu's sensitive nose itch while he continues to make his way silently down the hallway. The hairs at the back of his neck standing on edge from the silence that weighs down on him, feeling that at any moment everything would fall into chaos.

Just like how it always happened in his dreams…

"This is probably just another dream," Natsu says out loud and winces at how his voice is carried through the silence like a warning bell, "Everything will happen like it always does. I'll walk for what feels like hours, I'll get chased, and before I get caught I'll wake up," he reasons, but he doesn't fully believe the lie.

The hope that his lie is supposed to bring him does not bloom.

"I'll probably wake up any second now," he reasons again, "And the first thing I'll do is make a big breakfast for Happy and I. Then I'll go visit my old man at the hospital and maybe even spend the afternoon at old Metallicana's house with Gajeel and Juvia." Natsu chuckles, but it's halfhearted and makes his chest ache, "Lis might even stop by with Mira and Elfman for dinner," he continues, not even realizing that his voice is growing quieter and quieter with each word when he stops to look in a mirror without thinking, "But first, I just need to wake up…"

Natsu immediately pales and his heart drops when he notices a red gleaming eye staring at him through the mirror. A bright wooden smile peeks out over his shoulder and he feels a boney hand gently grab his shoulder. Something that has never happened in his dreams before.

_~SiLlY nAtSu~_

_~yoU'rE nOt gOInG aNyWhERe~_

Screaming and swiping at the creature clinging to his shoulder, Natsu is able to brush the doll-like creature and watches as it sails to the ground behind him. He follows it with the flashlight and watches it hit the ground where it remains immobile staring at the ceiling with its cold glossy eyes and wide smile. It then lifts its head to look at Natsu before a maniacal laughter erupts from the doll as it opens its mouth to bare sharp pointy teeth at him and all Natsu can do is stare horrified at the creature.

_~cOmE pLAy wITh uS nAtSu~_ The doll taunts in a distorted high-pitched voice that leaves Natsu's stomach churning and his whole body shaking. ~_cOmE pLAy wITh uS **FoREvEr**_~

"Forever" is spoken in such a deep demonic voice that the wall Natsu finds himself pressing his back against shakes violently. Natsu's fear only incites the doll to laugh maniacally again before disappearing into the darkness as if dragged back, but its laughter does not stop. In fact, more high-pitched laughter from several other voices join in with the doll's and out of the darkness hands reach out towards Natsu, as if trying to capture him

With a yelp, Natsu pushes himself off the wall and races down the hallway away from the hands and child-like laughter that chases him.

He can feel their tiny hands clutch at the air behind his back with a few lucky ones grabbing a hold of his hair and cloak before letting ago again with peals of laughter following suit. It was as if they were playing a game and that irritated Natsu that they were treating _him_ like a toy for their fun and pleasure. Still, he continued to run knowing deep in his gut that if these creatures captured him he was doomed.

Doors upon doors suddenly begin to line the walls on both side of the hallway from what Natsu can see through the sporadically swinging light in his hand. He thinks he should stop and try to check if they are open so he can jump inside to escape the grasping hands. He then realizes if one is locked he'd just be losing ground giving the creatures chasing him a better chance at capturing him.

Peals of laughter erupt from the demons hiding in the shadows and Natsu prays to Mavis that there isn't any more waiting at the end of the hall for him. He'd be doomed otherwise.

_~yOu CaN'T eScApE~_

_~yOu CaN'T eScApE~_

The voices shriek in sickening delight that change octaves with every syllable they say while their tiny hands continue to grasp at Natsu in hopes of catching him. They swipe at his fluttering cape but somehow no longer are able to grasp it as Natsu pushes himself to run even faster. This, however, only seems to delight them even more.

It feels like forever since Natsu has been running nonstop with every muscle screaming for him to stop and rest for a second. Natsu's breathing is irregular and every breath is getting harder and harder to take. Sweat pours down Natsu's face, causing his hair to stick to his cheeks and brow nearly blinding him and making it harder to see where he is going. This almost causes him to miss the turn that finally shows up which he launches himself at only to have his momentum make him crash into the adjacent wall.

Natsu doesn't take time to let the blow settle before he's pushing himself to race down this new hallway lined with even more doors. He does brave a look behind him and watches a hoard of different grotesque doll-like creatures crash into the same wall and tangle up into a mess of limbs and strings giving him time to put some distance between them; however, it isn't long before they are pursuing him again in a giant ball of tangled dolls.

"Dammit!" Natsu curses as he pushes himself to run faster, but his body is slowly shutting down and he knows that it won't be long before his body gives up on him completely. He can hardly even breathe anymore, much less see in the suffocating darkness around him.

Finding another corner to turn in, Natsu takes it but doesn't notice the fallen object that cuts off his path until he's tripping over it.

With a startled cry, Natsu sails to the ground and hits it hard enough to lose his grip on his flashlight that spins out of reach before stopping and pointing in his direction. He blindly reaches for his light source, his breathing hard and ragged while his whole-body shakes from the strain he's put on his body. He can't even seem to find the strength to push himself off the ground and back to his feet.

He's done for. The dolls will eventually catch up and he won't be able to do a thing except lay there on the ground. He's too tired to carry on, worn out from running so hard, and his vision is starting to blur while his chest aches with every burning breath he takes.

_~cAuGhT yOu~_

Turning, Natsu stares into the glass eyes of the tangled dolls who loom over him. Feral smiles open to present rows of sharp teeth that could tear him to shreds in seconds. Putrid breath wafts down Natsu's face making him gag and his eyes water from the smell, but Natsu refuses to look away as he wills himself to scoot away from the monstrosity before him. His futile retreat only causes the tangled mess to snicker in unison.

_~gAmE OvEr nAtSu~_

_~yoU LoSe~_

Natsu laughs at their words because that phrase usually meant he lost a match in one of his video games back home and it would only be a few seconds before his second attempt presented itself; however, he realizes that this was not a game or a dream. This was real because in his nightmares Natsu only ever felt fear, never pain. This meant he _had_ ended up dragged into the Phantom Lord mansion against his will, that these monsters were _real_, and he was going to die.

Closing his eyes to keep from seeing the monsters before him, Natsu waits for the dolls to descend on him and eat him whole, but a loud crash causes him to open his eyes in time to watch a chair sail right over his head. It hits the ball of tangled dolls causing them to shriek in surprised anger as they try to recover from the blow only to be hit with a small decorative table.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" A voice shrieks behind Natsu who looks in the direction the voice came from only for his vision to swim and causes the world to tilt in a weird angle. "Do you have some sort of death wish or are you just an idiot?!"

Before Natsu can reply, he's yanked to his feet and stares into burning eyes that aren't made from glass. They seem familiar, but Natsu doesn't know from where. He doesn't get the chance to ask who this girl was when the dolls shriek angrily behind him causing them both to jump.

"Hurry up and run!" the girl commands before taking his hand in hers and then proceeds to drag him down the long dark hallway away from the angry shrieks left back in the darkness.

* * *

**So I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I was able to write it during one of my insomniac nights where sleep just wasn't an option and I was inspired to write until dawn came. I have a few chapters lined up ready to post but I'm going to pace updates to my original posting schedule from like five years ago where I would update every four days which means the next chapter should be up by this Saturday. So long as the storms currently taking over South Texas where I currently live don't take down my internet my chapter should be up without any hiccups.**

**Anywho, I'm glad a lot of you liked the last chapter as much as I loved finally getting to write it. It had honestly been one of my favorite parts to write about the first time around and getting to rewrite it was a lot of fun. The upcoming chapters are also really great ones with the next chapter having a bit of a fluff moment between our two characters, so look out for that.**

**Also, we finally know what the creature that has been chasing Natsu in his dreams is! A bunch of creepy dolls with distorted child-like voices. I decided to make the "monster" as dolls because I am actually really scared of marionette, porcelain, rag, and basically any kind of doll with large glass-like eyes. Basically dolls that can be possessed by an entity that is either good or evil - and yes I 100% believe in the supernatural - and because of plot points that will be shown in the future, which I can't mention just yet, I decided to use the bane of my existence. I am an absolute lover of paranormal movies who doesn't get scared easily, but insert a cursed doll and your girl here will be cowering behind a wall of blankets and pillows.**

**On another note, if you guys would like a reference to what the "dolls" sound like when talking, I was inspired by the way the phantoms in the anime **Noragami** sound like in both the subbed and dubbed versions. If you haven't yet seen that anime I HIGHLY recommend it. It's one of my all time favorite animes.**

**Shout outs**

**Great amazing thanks to **** my Fabulous Followers...**

**\- RiddlerShade**

**And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- stranger1999 = Thank you for your concern, and yes, quarantine really did mess a lot of things up; however, we can fix things by slowly regaining control on that which we can. Also, I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter. I was happy too when our boy finally ended up in the mansion and have waited for this day for a really long time lol. I also can't wait to start hearing y'all's theories on what Natsu's connection is to this whole place is. Look out for the small fluff in the next chapter!**

**\- Amanny = Muahahahaha yes it has!**

**\- shootingstarssel = I'm really happy you liked the chapter! Originally I was just going to keep the rest of the story from here on out focused on just Natsu and Lucy or if I should integrate the other characters on the outside as well. Let me know what you think!**

**Well that's all the shout outs for today.**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	10. Chapter 9

Natsu's head swims as he tries to keep up with the girl tugging him down the long hallway doing everything in his power to keep his feet moving. He knows they're moving slow and if they didn't hurry up to find somewhere to hide soon they were both doomed. Natsu had half a mind to tell the girl to just leave him and save herself, but she never gives him the chance to say anything. She just continues to murmur orders and tug him along and clutching his hand.

Behind them, Natsu can hear the screeching dolls and attempts to turn back to see how far away they are, but the hand holding his tugs him harder preventing him from looking back. Instead, Natsu looks ahead of him where he's greeted with a blurry image of long braided blonde hair. He doesn't get a lot of time to focus on the person in front of him before he's dragged around another corner, but the surprise turn doesn't stop him from feeling a sense of familiarity from the girl.

It isn't long before a dream he had not too long ago pops up in his head. One that had happened exactly like how his recent events transpired with him being chased down a long hallway and then tripping over a fallen object only to be rescued by a blonde girl. He's more than sure that this is somewhat what had happened in his dream and it only makes him wonder why this girl had been in his dreams at all and if she knew who he was.

Did she also dream of him? Did she know he was going to come and was at the ready to rescue him?

Was she his way out of this mess?

* * *

**Chapter 9**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

_~gEt bACk hErE!~_

Jumping at how close the distorted voice sounded, Natsu turns his head to look back only to have his view blocked when the girl takes another random turn. She then stops in the middle of the hallway making Natsu panic while she seems to search for something in the darkness. It is only at that moment that Natsu realizes the girl has his flashlight tightly clutched in her free hand.

About to ask why she's stopped, Natsu is immediately silenced when the girl squeals in triumph and drags Natsu further down the hall towards a dark wooden door. He's confused because this door doesn't look all that special, but the girl's excitement must mean something he doesn't understand. Yet again he doesn't get a chance to ask any questions when the girl wrenches the door open and shoves Natsu through the doorway.

Without missing a beat, she jumps into the room after him and quickly slams the door shut behind her just as the large mass of disfigured dolls turns the corner to chase them down. Their screeching is silenced once the door is completely closed and locked leaving both teenagers heaving for breath, both waiting in silence. Listening to see if anything can be heard from the other side of the door, for the inevitable pounding that should mean the dolls have caught up, but there's nothing except silence and their collective heavy breathing.

Groaning in pain from where Natsu lies on the ground, he then sits up to check his ankle that was sprained when he fell earlier. He had run through the hallways with the girl fighting through the pain that shot up his leg with every step he took. He also noticed the rug burn on his hands from the fall he took earlier as well as this one after being shoved into this strange room. He couldn't see quite well in the darkness, but he felt the sting on the palms of his hands and just hoped he wasn't bleeding or that the injury wasn't as bad as his sprained ankle.

"That was close," he hears the girl sigh before she turns to press her back on the door and slinks down to the ground.

Natsu watches the fluorescent light from his flashlight illuminate her face as she hugs the light source close to her like a lifeline. The shadows cast on her closed eyes remind Natsu of the nightmare he had of the eyeless girl that stood in his living room what felt like years ago. He can still see the bloody dark pits crying crimson rivers down pale cheeks.

For a second Natsu is scared that when she opens her eyes she'll have nothing, but bloody black pits like in his nightmare, but then remembers seeing dark irises glaring at him earlier. She was not another glass-eyed monster like the ones hunting them down nor the eyeless being from his dreams. She was human and she had saved his life.

After recovering a bit of his breath, Natsu breathes out a wavered, "Thanks," that sounds pained and out of breath.

Natsu jumps when the girl gives a shriek and points his flashlight directly at his face. He cries in pain from the bright light suddenly shined in his eyes and covers his face with his hand to try and block out some of the light. It isn't long before he hears shuffling in front of him and a bright yellow light illuminates the room, chasing away the darkness.

"You… You… You're human," he hears the girl stutter while he tries to get his eyes to focus in the bright room.

It takes a second for her words to register and wonders why she would question whether he was a human or not. Hadn't she just saved his life on the basis that he was human and not one of those creepy dolls out in the hallway? Had she thought he was a figment of her imagination just like he thought she had been for a moment?

When Natsu's eyes finally adjust, he finds the girl standing by the doorway with his flashlight still clutched in her left hand and pointed at him while her right hand remained on a light switch by the doorway. She's dressed exactly like the girl from his dream with a green bra-like top and matching long skirt that was worn and a bit dirty. She had sandals on with gold cuffs hugging her biceps with bangles hanging from her wrists. He was surprised he hadn't heard their clinking while they were running, but realized it must have been because of all of the yelling the dolls were doing.

Taking in all of the girl's appearance from her attire to her long braided golden hair and large doe brown eyes, Natsu could feel his brain fry at the sight of the girl. He can feel his face and ears heat up while a tingling in his chest begins to bloom in a curious manner.

"You," he whispers, causing the girl to jump and clutch the still lit flashlight in both hands to use as a weapon if need be, "I know you from somewhere, don't I?"

"Me?!" She asks, clearly surprised while pointing at herself, "You… you know me?" she then asks clearly surprised that this strange boy whom she'd never met in her life could know who she was.

She doesn't remember seeing him around school, but perhaps he had spotted her around Magnolia? The town was big and there were at least three high schools around the town, so maybe he knew her because of the latter. Or maybe her dad had once done business with her family, or… or…

"Maybe not," Natsu then mumbles to himself while scratching his head and making a face of deep concentration, "I doubt I'd ever forget someone as beautiful as you…"

Natsu instantly slams his hand over his mouth after the last sentence spills out without him realizing it. The girl instantly feels her cheeks burn at the boy's comment while his own face burned a deep scarlet as embarrassment took him over. She swore she could almost see steam coming out of his ears from how red he'd become at the innocent words he let slip out.

Other than Macbeth, no one had ever said that she was beautiful with the innocent sincerity the boy before her had. Usually she was cat-called and told inappropriate things because of her curvy body with men thinking that they could get her attention that way and then got mad when she tried to ignore them. The way that the boy seemed to be internally fighting with himself allowed her to calm down and lower her guard just a bit.

"Th-thank you," she murmurs while lowering the flashlight and giving Natsu a timid smile. It was a complete contrast to the girl who had taken command outside and saved his life, but still a welcoming sight.

"No please, thank _you_ for saving my li…" Natsu winces when he tries to stand up and put weight on his injured ankle. He immediately crumples to the floor with a cry of pain and in seconds the girl is by his side with a panicked worry covering her beautiful face.

There was that word again… a word he hardly ever used for a girl. He doesn't even remember calling any of his friends back home beautiful, and most of them were females he's known all his life.

"What's wrong?" the girl asks with worry as she searches his body and immediately zeroes in on his ankle when Natsu tries to reach for it, "You must have sprained your ankle when you tripped," she says more to herself while removing Natsu's sandal to assess his injury better, wincing at the swelling and bruising around the boy's ankle.

She prods the injury with delicate fingers and Natsu shivers when he realizes how cold her hands feel against his skin. It actually feels quite nice and her delicate probing don't hurt him all that much.

"Can you stand?" she asks after turning back to look at Natsu who watches her silent assessment and nods when his brain registers her question, "Here, I'll help you."

Together they work to help get Natsu onto a nearby bed Natsu hadn't noticed up until now. In fact, once he's seated on the edge of the bed he takes the time to look around the room to find another four-poster bed like his own beside his with a nightstand dividing the two beds. At the foot of the beds were two trunks and a few feet away from the beds there was a settee situated in front of an unlit fireplace.

Around him the room looked expensive with everything colored in shades of brown, gold, mahogany, and hints of green on every piece of furniture. Dust and cobwebs still decorated the room, showing that it was unused, but the grandeur of the room still shined through all the grime and dirt. The walls were also covered with elaborately designed wallpaper that was bare of any decorative item like mirrors or picture frames. The only decorative piece aside from the settee, a wardrobe, and a few lamps was a large crystal chandelier hanging over the settee.

"It's quite a sight isn't it?" the girl asks Natsu when she returns from a door off to the side Natsu hadn't seen her disappear into and return from.

"Yeah," he murmurs, watching her pour some water from a pitcher into a golden basin and then soak a towel she must have found in what must be the bathroom.

She works quietly, straining the towel and then proceeding to place the cold towel around Natsu's ankle making him hiss at the sudden temperature change and pain that shoots up from his injury.

"Sorry," the girl apologizes while helping Natsu settle his foot on the bed here he sat with pillows propped behind him.

After wrapping up his foot, the girl then proceeds to go towards the fireplace where she throws in a few logs that were stacked off to the side and lights a match to let the fire burn and quickly chase the cold away. While she works, Natsu watches her move around the room looking as if she didn't know what to do with herself and he doesn't blame her.

He doesn't know what to say or do other than to let his ankle continue to rest on the bed and watch the girl continue her work. She checks on his ankle again after what feels like a few minutes pass and while she assesses his injury he looks back up at the door they came in through, curious as to why they could no longer hear the dolls crying out for them. It's as if they were in a sound-proof room and could hear nothing that happened outside which only made him worry.

If they couldn't hear the creatures how would they know when to stay on guard if they ever broke through the door? Were they safe here? And if so, for how long would they be safe before they were found?

"You don't have to worry," the girl assures Natsu as if reading his mind while she wraps another cool towel around his ankle, her fingers now warm where they touch his skin, "They won't break in and hurt us so long as we're in here."

Natsu gives her a funny look and asks, "How does that work?"

The girl thinks for a moment, looking at a loss for words, before she's overcome with a giant yawn she tries to cover with the back of her hand. Her yawn seems to last forever and eventually gets Natsu to release his own yawn reminding him how exhausted he was. They both blink away tears when their yawns finally break and Natsu notices the bruise-like bags underneath the girl's eyes that looked similar to his own.

Did she also not get enough sleep?

_That's a dumb question Natsu. Being trapped here how could _anyone_ get a decent amount of sleep?_ Natsu berates himself while the girl recovers from a second yawn.

"I'll explain everything tomorrow," she promises instead while shaking her head and blinking sleepily at him, "For now I think we should get some rest. We're going to need it after everything that just happened," she sniffs absentmindedly while standing up and wiping her hands on her long skirt.

"Yeah… ok," Natsu agrees before he's attacked by another yawn that makes his eyes begin to feel heavy.

Removing his cloak, Natsu hangs it over the headboard behind him while making sure to keep from moving around too much so as not to disturb his ankle. He then removes his backpack and places it on the floor beside his bed before then removing his vest and hanging it with his cloak so it wouldn't bother him in his sleep but still leaves his scarf wrapped around his neck.

All while he does this, Natsu can't help but feel a bit unnerved at how casual he was now treating the situation. As if this were another sleepover he was having at a friend's house and not trapped in a room, hurt, and with a girl he barely met. He doesn't realize how numb he feels until he notices how calm he's acting instead of freaking out over being stuck in this situation. Not to mention that he was stuck with a beautiful girl who has been popping out in his dreams recently and that she was acting as calm as him.

Natsu wants nothing more than for this to be a bad dream, to go to fall asleep and wake up back in his bed with Happy curled up beside his head. To have his friends burst in through his door to drag him on another crazy adventure that didn't involve haunted houses or ghosts. He wanted to tell Lisanna that he was sorry for being an ass and that he'd never ignore her warnings or advice ever again or take Gray's annoying presence for granted. He wanted his dad to finally wake up from his coma so he could apologize for being such a shit of a son.

He wanted life to be normal again

But none of that was going to happen because Happy was home alone wondering where his owners had gone. His friends were probably talking to the police right now about what had happened to him, and Metallicana would probably be alerted along with his aunt Grandeen who lived too far to ever get here on time, not that there was anything either of them could do. Worst of all, Igneel was still in a coma blissfully unaware of his only son's disappearance. These thoughts only made him feel even worse than he already felt as he slowly crawled into bed only to stare up at the canopy and watch the nearby fire cast shadows around the room when the girl finally turned off the lights which left a sinking feeling settle in Natsu's stomach.

"Hey!" both teenagers say at the same time and blink at one another when they realize that they've spoken up to one another. "Sorry," they then apologize as Natsu scratches the back of his head in embarrassment from where he's sitting up and staring down at the musty blankets that cover him.

He looks back up at the girl whose entire face is a bright red, nearly the same color as Erza's hair, and he wonders what it is that has her feeling so embarrassed. Was she nervous to sleep in the same room as a guy? He didn't have a problem sleeping in the same room as a girl. He spent most of his life being dragged to Erza's, Mirajane's, and Cana's sleepovers when he was younger where he and the others almost always shared the same room and/or bed. The women in his life knew nothing of boundaries thus making him, as well as the other guys, desensitized to a lot of awkward situations.

"You can go first," Natsu offers after a long pause of silence passes between them.

"Um…" the girl starts while twiddling her fingers in front of her and looking at the ground in embarrassment, "I… I wanted," she huffs in frustration when she stammers and Natsu can only wonder what it was that the girl was thinking.

In truth, he thought she looked rather adorable while she struggled to say what was on her mind, not that he'd ever say that out loud. _Especially_ when he's learned not to make fun of women when they were embarrassed or struggling to say something. One could say he was even a bit traumatized because of the women in his life.

"I hate sleeping alone," the girl is finally able to murmur, and if it weren't for Natsu's great hearing he might not have heard her.

Natsu doesn't know why he sighs in relief. Maybe it was because of the scared little boy deep inside of him that was afraid of sleeping alone, especially in a situation like this. He was also afraid that the girl would be gone when he woke up. Whatever the reason, he didn't think twice before pulling back the blanket to allow her to climb into the bed just like he used to let his little cousin Wendy jump into his bed with him and Jellal when they were younger, and his cousins were down visiting for the holidays.

Erza always did tell Natsu to think about his actions before doing anything, and Natsu doesn't realize his mistake until both he and the girl are lying face to face in the same bed. He realizes this isn't Erza or Lisanna, Cana, or even Levy who were all basically his sisters. This was a girl he had just met, and thought was even more beautiful up close with the dim light of the fire making her almost glow in the darkness.

His heart ached, though Natsu didn't understand why, as he watched her eyes droop shut while her timid hand clutched the tail of his scarf. The gesture reminds Natsu of Wendy who used to do the same thing when she was little. It made Natsu wonder just how long this girl has been stuck here for, but the thought gets lost when Natsu finally eases up his tense muscles and falls asleep almost immediately.

* * *

Lucy opens her eyes again as soon as she hears the boy's soft snoring and finds the boy laying on his back with his right hand just barely brushing her hands that were still clutching his scarf. She watches him with curious eyes from where she's lying beside him on the lumpy bed and listens intently to his soft breathing and gentle snores, not at all bothered by the sound. Instead, she welcomes the soft snoring and keeps her eyes glued to the face of the boy she's only just met and wonders how it was that he got here.

She makes a mental note to ask him when they wake up, but for now she would just wonder if it was the same way she got trapped here. She also begins to worry that he might be a figment of her imagination that is signifying she has finally lost her mind in this hell-hole; however, everything about him felt real and that was enough to help her feel reassured that he wasn't a hallucination.

Groaning, Lucy turns to lie on her back and stare at the canopied roof of the fourposter bed she was sharing with the stranger, mentally hitting herself for even suggesting that they share a bed. She's even more embarrassed of the fact that he agreed without question in letting her into his bed, but she was thankful that he didn't think lowly of her. She just couldn't pass up the opportunity after spending who knows how many nights alone in this place with no one else to find comfort in. There was also the fact that she felt slightly drawn to the boy, though she couldn't explain how.

Either way, she was somewhat glad that she wasn't alone here anymore, but her joy makes her feel sick to her stomach. Simply because this boy now had to suffer everything she was suffering.

Well, at least they didn't have to suffer alone, not that either of them deserved this suffering.

Rolling back to look at the boy, Lucy can only stare at him, too afraid to close her eyes. She fears that if she falls asleep, when she wakes up he'll be gone, and she'll be all alone again. Lucy doesn't think that she'll survive that type of trickery. It might just be the thing that drives her over the edge.

Making a weird face and letting out a soft whine, the boy kicks off his blanket with his uninjured foot and stretches and turns towards her, unknowingly caging her under his arm that he drapes over her and proceeds to pull her towards him. Lucy squeaks at the sudden action as her nose hits his collarbone while he settles himself around her with a sigh. He then resumes his soft breathing with his breath lightly fanning over her forehead while she remains frozen in place. It takes a few minutes before Lucy braves to look up at the boy's sleeping face to realize that he looked about the same age as her.

Lucy hadn't taken much time to take in the boy's appearance earlier when they had entered the room and turned on the lights that were still on around them. She had been preoccupied with helping to soothe his swollen ankle, but now she had the time to take in every detail she could see before her.

The boy's face looked young, about her age, with boyish features that made him look younger while he slept. He had a head full of spiky _PINK_ hair that made her wonder if it was natural or dyed. Sure, she had met her fair share of people who had the natural pink color like the boy's, but all those people had been women. She had never seen a male sporting the feminine color, but Lucy came to realize that the cotton-candy color suited the boy. Still, Lucy couldn't help like she's seen this particular hair before, the thought itched at the back of her mind but she just couldn't remember from where.

Without thinking, Lucy carefully reaches up and gently runs her fingers through the boy's spiky hair, completely amazed to find it soft and smelling like cinnamon. Lucy had thought it to be rough and maybe a bit course due to gel keeping the spikes up but is surprised with how easily her fingers glide through the rosy strands. Lucy is even amused that when she retracts her hand the boy makes a face and mutters a half-hearted "Fight me" before his expression slackens once again from its short-lived scowl.

Smiling, Lucy brings back her hand to clutch his scarf and focuses on the soft tingle on her palm and fingers from running them through his hair. It's the first human contact she's had in a really long time and doesn't realize how touch starved she was until she realizes that she's sharing a bed with a stranger and allowing him to hug her in his sleep. A feat she would have never in her life done before.

Brushing away those thoughts, Lucy allows herself to finally close her eyes and fall into the deepest sleep she's had in a good while.

* * *

**So this chapter was supposed to be up yesterday but I completely forgot to upload it because I got distracted learning how to make pizza from scratch. It didn't come out the way I wanted but it was still delicious and I now know what to do to make it even better for next time. What kind of hobbies have you all picked up during this quarantine? I'm thinking of getting back into personal reading and even ordered a few new books to start. Let's see if I can fall back in love with reading.**

**Anywho, this chapter had originally been very serious and I decided to rewrite it to appear more laid back and a bit fluffy so I hope you all liked it. The bed scene was inspired by a similar occurrence I had a few nights ago where my little cousin asked if she could sleep with me after watching a scary movie with me. It made me wonder what Lucy's interaction would be if one of them suggested for them to share a bed for comfort and then this came up and I really like how it turned out.**

**Shout Outs **

**Great amazing thanks to my **** Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- stranger1999 = I'm really happy you enjoyed the chapter! I had a lot of girls growing up as well but never any porcelain dolls because they terrified me. I absolutely LOVE Noragami. I had been reading the manga for a while but had to stop because they had gone on hiatus and then school took all of my time away. I hope there will be a season three in the near future. And oooh what an interesting theory, though their interaction in this chapter really does back up that claim.**

**\- Amanny = Dolls in and of themselves are scary and I'm happy you liked the chapter!**

**\- shootingstarssel = I'm happy you enjoyed the chapter and I will start working on the integration of the others into the story because you are right, Juvia and Laxus know more than they let on.**

**Well that's all the shout outs for today!**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	11. Chapter 10

Lights flash repeatedly, painting the night in bursts of red and blue. The sound of people talking over one another fills the previously silent air while bodies search the perimeter with flashlights and walkie-talkies in their hands.

Groups of people have split off to search the nearby woods while a few search around to look for a way into the large mansion that stands ominously before them. Casting eerie shadows over the people while watching them intently with its large dirty windows that almost feel like eyes. Eyes that wrapped around the building leaving no blind spot.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

"So tell me again what happened?" a police officer asks sounding tired and just a bit irritated.

"I already told you what happened," Juvia mutters while keeping her eyes glued to the mansion, just like she used to when she was little.

She remembers sneaking out of the orphanage at night to watch the house during nights she could not sleep. She liked watching the shadows move through the windows, shadows that tried coaxing her to get nearer, but she never did. She never went past the tree line and simply watched the house for hours, much like she was doing now.

"Can you tell us again?" the cop asks with exasperation.

"She already told you what happened! We all have," Gajeel growls angrily while wrapping an arm defensively around his sister who still would not tear her eyes away from the building, "Natsu was dared to step into the house and he hasn't come out since."

"And that's it?" the cop asks, still not convinced.

"We already told you, that's it," Gray chimes in while glowering at the officers, "He went in and never came out."

"How'd he get in if the door was sealed shut?" the other officer asks while looking at the mentioned door where a group of people were trying to force the door open.

No one says anything. The group remains quiet because they didn't know how to explain what had happened. Juvia had told them what to say when the officers began to ask questions. She told them to be vague because the adults would never believe them. There was no logical explanation as to what had happened.

When the teens refuse to say anything else, the officers leave the group sitting by a broken water fountain to group up with the search party. The teenagers, bathed under the red and blue blinking lights, watch the adults work while trying to make sense of everything they had seen.

"What have we done?" Gray asks while covering his face with his hands and gritting his teeth, "This is all my fault," he then growls, feeling himself burn with guilt for challenging Natsu the way he had.

"It is no one's fault," Juvia says while rubbing a hand on his back without tearing her eyes from the building, "We didn't know this was going to happen."

"But…"

"Juvia's right. We gain nothing from blaming ourselves," Gajeel grunts while squeezing both his sister and Levy close to gain strength from them.

"W… what was that?" Lisanna whispers, near hysterics while she shivers in her sister's arms. She'd been crying since the moment the door shut behind Natsu and hadn't been able to say a single word without stuttering or breaking down. "What was that?" she repeats.

Everyone looks at her, but no one knows what she was talking about. She had been the one closest to Natsu and had tried with all her might to pull him out of the house. This meant that she probably had seen what had grabbed Natsu, but until now she hadn't been able to explain what it was that she had seen.

"What did you see?" Cana asks from where she was standing a few feet away, pacing with a cigarette in her hand.

Cana was a drinker and only smoked when she was extremely stressed out like now. She was shaking and had a crazed look in her eye much like the others who huddled with one another save a few who joined in on her pacing.

Lisanna shakes her head, looking at the ground in confusion while the memory of Natsu being dragged into the manor repeated over and over in her head. She could still feel Natsu's hand in hers and hear Natsu telling her to run.

If only she had been stronger Natsu might still be here with them and smiling that goofy smile she loved.

"There was a hand," Juvia says in a somber voice, "There was a hand wrapped around his ankles… but it wasn't connected to a body." Everyone grows silent and the air gets even colder around them at this news. "There was also the sound of children's laughter…"

Lisanna breaks down and her sobs could be heard over the people talking and walking around them. Acting as if they weren't there. Like they were the broken statues that littered the garden and watched the commotion with little interest.

"What am I going to tell my mother?" Jellal asks from where he sits between Mirajane and Erza, "What are we going to tell Metallicana?" he then asks while looking up at his cousins who make uncomfortable faces.

"That's the least of our worries," Gajeel grunts, "What matters right now is what are we going to do about Natsu? What's going to happen to him?"

Everyone stays quiet while they exchange looks, questioning one another quietly. Wondering if any of them had a plan and what they were going to do to help their missing friend. They also collectively wondered how they'd bypass the search team that refused to let them help in their current hunt.

"We'll find him," Laxus says with determination while exhaling the smoke from his own cigarette, "We're not going to let the cops give up again," he then grumbles while taking another drag from his cigarette.

"What do you mean by that?" Erza asks while looking at the blond, but he doesn't say anything else as parent's begin to show up to pick up their kids.

No one answers any questions when their parents show up. They simply wait until the cops have spoken to the adults before all the teenagers were corralled away from the crime scene and down the twisting path that led them away from this nightmare. The only one's left were Laxus, Jellal, Gajeel, and Juvia who remained close to one another while they waited for Metallicana. Laxus remained for a few minutes before stomping out his cigarette and leaving his friends after patting Jellal's back and telling him he'd call tomorrow.

"We'll find him," Laxus repeats while giving Juvia a strange look before finally turning and disappearing down the driveway like the others.

"We'll find him," Juvia murmurs while turning to look back at the manor, searching the dirty windows that seem as if they were watching her back.

Gajeel wants to ask how she knows that but stops himself. He knew she wouldn't answer him. It's just something that she _knew_ and would eventually reveal to him when she was ready. He trusted her and if she had a plan he'd wait to hear and help her with it. In the meantime, he waited while his father ran up the driveway with a worried look in his eye.

For a second Gajeel was worried Metallicana would start chewing him out, but instead was surprised to find his father pulling him, his sister and cousin all in for a hug. The surprise grows more when Metallicana finally let's go of the trio and clasps Gajeel's face into both his hands and searches the boy's face with an anxious look in his eye before turning to his sister and then to Jellal.

"You all are alright," Metallicana sighs in relief before looking around them, "Where's Natsu?"

Jellal and Gajeel look away in shame while Juvia looks towards the manor as Metallicana turns to look with her. This catches the attention of the police officers who had interviewed them and Metallicana meets them halfway already asking a million questions, reminding the cousins of Grandeen who was known to be the overexaggerated one.

No one is surprised to see Metallicana barrel through the officers once he hears that his nephew is missing, rushing towards the door that were finally pried open. He screamed out Natsu's name and all the cousins could do was watch in silence while praying that their idiot cousin was safe…

X

Natsu wakes up with a start and wonders for how long he had been sleeping while he keeps his eyes tightly shut to block out the glare of the morning light. It had been the deepest and calmest sleep he had ever had in his life, much calmer and relaxing than the one he had when sleeping at the hospital with Igneel. He still can't tell if he feels rested, but he assumes that the tired feeling that followed him everywhere would never go away. He'd be tired for the rest of his life just like his father always was.

He didn't really mind and enjoyed the fact that he hadn't had a single nightmare all night which was a bonus for him. He was happy that no nightmares plagued him and forced him to wake up at odd hours of the night or morning; however, he did feel this nagging feeling at the back of his mind that he was forgetting something… something important.

Something wrapped in Natsu's arms moves, alerting Natsu that he wasn't alone and holding onto something. He simply tightens his hold on the squirming object wanting nothing more than to stay in bed and hopefully fall asleep again. He liked not dreaming and he was rather comfortable.

"Happy~" Natsu whines when the bundle in his arms doesn't stop moving, "Stop movin so much and let me sleep," he grumbles while burying his face further into his scarf.

Happy finally stops moving, but it was too late. Natsu knew that sleep was no longer going to happen as his consciousness was starting to finally grow alert. It helped him realize that the bundle in his arms was too big to be Happy and his heightened sense of smell could tell it wasn't his cat. His cat didn't smell like strawberries.

"Who… who is Happy?" a tentative voice asks right under Natsu's chin, causing his eyes to fly open and look down.

Large brown eyes blink up at Natsu curiously and in an instant Natsu remembers everything that had happened the night before. He remembers his friends, the manor, the dare, and the incident. The chase and fear those demonic toys instilled before this girl saved his life and ended up in this compromising situation. A situation that filled the teen with embarrassment and lit his face up in flames.

The girl blinks up at him curiously and Natsu can't help but notice the light pink shading her cheeks or the fact that he was still holding onto her tightly. Natsu quickly releases his hold on the girl and sits up to make room between them while apologizing profusely.

"It's alright," the girl murmurs while she sits up and drapes her braid over her shoulder to fidget with it, "I… I didn't mind."

Natsu's face burns even hotter and his heart skips a beat. Their eyes meet for a second before they both look away with red faces. Natsu can hear his heart pounding in his ears while his eyes wander all around the room, wondering what he should say. He has never been so embarrassed in his life until now.

"How… how are you feeling?" the girl finally asks after what felt like a lifetime of silence and when Natsu turns to look at her he notices she's looking at his ankle.

Suddenly remembering he had hurt himself after being chased, Natsu shifts his ankle subconsciously and is surprised to feel no pain. When he removes the blanket he is surprised to find a light bruise around his ankle that only felt tender, but otherwise didn't really hurt. It wasn't as swollen as it had been yesterday, and it made the boy wonder how he could have healed so fast.

"It's… mostly healed," Natsu murmurs while continuing to stare at the injured foot.

Peering over the blanket, the girl doesn't look so surprised to see that his ankle has healed itself quite considerably. She only blinks at the injury before looking up and giving Natsu a soft smile that somewhat eases his nerves. Natsu also noticed that a lot of the injuries the girl had the night before seemed to have disappeared as well. She looked untouched other than her clothes which were still in a sorry state much worse than his.

"This isn't a dream?" Natsu asks while rolling his ankle around to test it out, but all he feels is sore from running as much as he had the night before.

"No, it isn't," the girl says gravely while watching Natsu intently, "Things also don't get any better from here," she then sighs as she stands from the bed to stretch out any kinks in her joints.

Natsu watches her then move around the room and add more logs to the dying fire when he realizes he doesn't know her name.

"What's your name?" he asks while standing up from the bed to stretch and realizes he isn't wearing a shirt and quickly grow subconscious at his state of dress.

Blinking curiously at him, the girl smiles and tilts her head to the side answering, "It's Lucy," while sitting down on the nearby settee. Natsu repeats her name in his head, thinking it suits her while she asks, "What's your name? I forgot to ask through all the chaos we went through."

"Natsu… Natsu Dragneel," Natsu answers sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

His large goofy smile warms Lucy and makes her feel secure. It's a different feeling than that of loneliness which seemed to consume and follow her since she was young. It was still a familiar feeling, but she couldn't remember where she had felt this feeling before.

"It's really nice to meet you Natsu," Lucy says happily, "It's a shame to meet in such circumstances," she murmurs solemnly.

"It's nice to finally meet you too," Natsu says while making the blonde give him a confused look, "Oh…" Natsu start while smacking his hand against his forehead, "I completely forgot. I've actually seen you before… in a few dreams actually," Natsu explains.

He recounts the dreams he's had of her and this manor, from when she had saved him to when she had been standing ominously in his living room with no eyes. Lucy listens intently and is disgusted with his recounting of his last dream of her.

"Wow," She gasps almost breathlessly, "That must have been a sight to see," she grimaces while prodding under her right eye while she imagined what she'd look like if her eyes were just bloody sockets.

She doesn't like the image her mind conjures up and shakes her head while trying to get rid of the image. Lucy then wondered how Natsu could stand seeing her after dreaming such a horrible nightmare of her.

The thought quickly leaves when she hears a loud groan that causes her to jump and look around the room for a monster. She's relieved to find Natsu chuckling in embarrassment and holding his stomach while apologizing.

"Sorry, that's just my stomach," he laughs, and Lucy can't help but chuckle.

"It's ok, I'm hungry too. I'm sorry I don't have any food to give you at the moment," she then apologizes. Her expression grows grim as she turns to look at the door they had ran in through the night before.

Natsu notices Lucy's wary look she gives the door. She doesn't want to go outside so soon after finding this room, especially after everything she went through in her last outing to find it. She almost hadn't made it out of the room she had been forced to enter before finding Natsu, and the last thing she wanted was to subject him to go through what she went through; however, Lucy knew that they needed to find food. They wouldn't survive long otherwise.

"We don't have to go back out there," Natsu says while picking up his backpack and opening it, "I've got candy, some granola bars, and a few bottles of water we can make do with."

Lucy watches Natsu dump his meager treasure onto the bed and accepts a granola bar he offers her before tearing into his own. She inspects the snack and looks back at the bed to see there were only two left along with a few fistfuls of candy and three water bottles. The meager spoils wouldn't even last them three days. This meant that they would need to go out and scavenge for food even when she didn't want to leave.

"It's not enough to keep us by," Lucy says grimly, "I would know." Lucy finally opens her granola bar and begins to munch on it slowly while trying to come up with a plan, "We need to leave soon so we can find the kitchen before nighttime falls again. The monsters only come out at night which gives us a few hours to search for the kitchen and then another safe room to hunker down in. I know it's not an ideal plan, but we don't have another choice."

Natsu nods in understanding while turning to look at the door they had come in through the night before and grimaces at the thought of needing to go back out there.

Staring at the door, he suddenly wonders how it is that they were safe and how no monster had come crashing into the room during their sleep. Was there some kind of magic placed on the doors that kept them safe and why was room the only one that Lucy had allowed them to go into when there were so many other doors within the building.

"Hey Luce?" Natsu asks, not realizing he had called the girl by a nickname that sounded very familiar to her, "How is it that the monsters haven't entered this room?"

Lucy mulls the question over, wondering how to explain what she had learned in the short time she's been stuck in this hell.

"I'm sure you've noticed that there are a lot of doors around the manor that line the hallways," Lucy asks and Natsu nods eagerly, "Every one of those doors have bronze doorknobs. Whatever you do, don't go into those room unless it's necessary," Lucy warns earnestly which makes Natsu gulp from the dark look that overtakes her eyes.

"How... how come?" he can't help but ask.

"Those rooms hold nightmares worse than any nightmare you've ever had before," Lucy continues with that dark look in her eye telling Natsu that he really didn't want to go into any of those rooms, "They're still safer than facing the dolls, but if you can help it, stay out of those rooms and only go into the rooms that have golden doorknobs like this one."

After taking a moment to let Lucy's words sink in, Natsu finally gets to work in putting away all his snacks back into his backpack. He then slips his vest and cloak back on at Lucy's insistence. After she puts out the fire, Lucy meets Natsu at the doorway which they stare at for a long minute dreading the need to go out and scavenge for food.

"Whatever you do, don't get too far away from me," Lucy tells the boy while reaching out and grabbing his hand to which he accepts without complaint, "This place is like a maze and one wrong move could get us separated in a heartbeat."

"Don't let go. Got it."

Tightening their hold on one another, they both look into each other's eyes before nodding in mutual understanding. Without another word, Lucy opens the door and leads them out into the silent hallway.

* * *

**So It's been a hot minute since I've posted and all I can say is that I was unmotivated and felt a bit displaced. I had so many ideas I was ready to use for my chapters, but I got into a bit of a runt that kept me from doing much. I've spent my time watching anime and catching up with my reading collection and after re-watching an anime that helped inspire this story all those years ago I have finally gotten the will to get back to work. Also, I've gotten a sense of a routine now that I'm back at work and school so I feel 100 times more motivated to write! **

**I might go a little MIA this month, but only because I'll be writing chapters for October, but I'll try my best to get some chapters out this month. Either way I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to hear from you all.**

**Also, I hope everyone has been doing well! I've missed you all so much!**

**Shout outs**

**Thank you to all my wonderful Favorites, Followers, and Reviewers! I wouldn't be able to continue writing without your love and support.**

**Well that's all for today.**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	12. Chapter 11

Nothing seemed to have changed out in the hallway since the night before. The long corridor was still dark and slightly hard to see, but thanks to Natsu's flashlight the pair of teens were able to light their way through the darkness. One thing that was different about the hallway was the lack of terrifying dolls as well as the overwhelming bloodlust in the air. Now the air felt clear and chilly making it far easier to breathe.

Stepping out of the room completely and letting the door close behind them, Natsu and Lucy stand in the middle of the hallway in silence. The blonde looks from side to side, calculating which direction they should head in order to find the kitchen. Natsu let's her make the decision for them seeming as she had more experience in this place than he had. He didn't know why, but he trusted this girl to make the right decision.

Finally deciding on a route, Lucy begins to head right while tugging on Natsu's hand so that he follows her. They walk in silence through the hallway, but the silence is a comfortable one, unlike the unbearable silence of the night before. The silence that came before the attack.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

As they continue to walk around corners and downstairs, Natsu begins to grow curious about his companion.

"Hey Luce, can I ask you a question?" Natsu asks. Looking up at him, Lucy nods wondering what it was the boy wanted to ask, "How… how long have you been here?"

Thinking the question over, Lucy tries to do the math of how many nights she's spent in this hellhole. The only way she could calculate how long she's been stuck here was from how many encounters she's had with the monsters who only came out at night.

"I'm not too sure, but I'm guessing a year," she muses while still trying to do the math in her head, "It hasn't been too long, but I'm certain it's been a year from the way you're dressed."

Natsu can't help but notice the sad tone her voice takes on when she realizes how long it's been since she's been stuck in here; however, there was hope now that Natsu was here. Together they would probably be able to find a way out, not to mention that Natsu was more than certain his friends would also help from the outside.

They were going to get out of this place. He was sure of it.

"What high school do you go to?" Natsu then asks while trying to get the topic away from how Lucy's been stuck here, "I don't think I've ever seen you around Fairy Tail."

"Oh, that's because I go to Magnolia tech!" Lucy says while perking up, "But I'd rather much go to Fairy Tail if I'm completely honest."

"How come?" Natsu asks and Lucy can't help but think of Sorano who had gotten her into this mess.

No… it was her own fault for allowing herself to get peer-pressured into doing such a stupid dare.

"Just… reasons," Lucy smiles, but it is a tight one with no real emotion behind it, "I'm new in town and don't really have many friends there. Plus, the group that I hang out with… let's just say that there's only one person who I really consider my friend."

Natsu tries to wonder what it would be like to be in a completely different town with no friends. He can't imagine it. Ever since he was little, he always saw himself residing in Magnolia surrounded by the friends he has had since he was a kid. He couldn't imagine the type of loneliness that Lucy felt without any close friends to talk to.

"Make it two people you can consider your friend," Natsu then says while interlocking their fingers causing them both to blush. "When we get out of here, I'll introduce you to my friends. They're an odd bunch, but you'll love them, and I know they'll love you," Natsu then says while earning an earnest smile from the girl.

"I'd like that very much," Lucy says while feeling even more excited about getting out of this place.

Maybe when she got to meet Natsu's friends she could take Macbeth along if he'd be willing to go with her. Even after everything that had happened, she still considered him as a friend and worried about him when she wasn't worrying about herself.

"Hey Natsu, do you think your parents will be worried that you've disappeared and gotten stuck here?" Lucy then asks after turning left at a corner down a hallway that looked slightly familiar to her.

Shaking his head, Natsu gives her a toothy smile that confuses her, "Nah, dad probably won't notice for a while that I'm gone," he says, not revealing that the reason was that his dad was in a coma.

_Just like me_, Lucy thinks, letting her mind stray to her estranged father who had undoubtedly spent the first few days of her disappearance working until one of the servants informed him of her disappearance. She wondered if he was even still looking for her now.

"What about your mom?" Lucy then asks, "I bet she'd be worried."

"It's just me and the old man," Natsu answers, still with that upbeat attitude, "My mom passed away when I was really little. How about you?"

"It's also just me and my dad," Lucy says poignantly, "He spends all of his time working and ignoring me that I really just consider myself an orphan. I hardly ever seen him and when I do, he tends to act as if I'm not there."

Natsu is appalled by the news but remembers there was a time that Igneel had ignored him as well, just after his mother's passing. He remembered how distant the older Dragneel male had been and how he had to spend a lot of his time at his grandparent's house or even at Metallicana's house. It wasn't until Igneel had snapped out of it that he had taken Natsu back home and never left his side since then until recently.

"He'll come around," Natsu murmurs while smiling at Lucy who returns a weak smile, "Give him a little more time. You'll see he'll come around."

"Do you know this from experience?" Lucy asks with a light tone of jest in her voice.

"I do," Natsu admits somberly, "Igneel kind of flaked out on me after my mom died. It took a while for him to get off his ass, but he did. You just need to give your old man a little push and you'll see he'll get his stick out of his ass too."

"Eww," Lucy exclaims, but still laughs making Natsu smile at the bright sound. Natsu realized he rather liked Lucy's laugh.

After a few more minutes of walking, Natsu suddenly smells something in the air. He freezes, causing Lucy to stop with him, while he sniffs the air like a dog much to Lucy's confusion. Natsu then looks right and without another word starts walking while pulling Lucy behind him without a word.

He knew this was the right way to go, but he didn't know how to explain it to Lucy; however, she didn't complain and seemed to be fine with letting him lead even though she was the one with the experience in this place. Something in Lucy's gut told her to trust in Natsu's instinct and that's exactly what she was doing.

Much to her delight, following the young male turned out to be fruitful as they found the kitchen without too much of the usual hassle Lucy went through when hunting down the room.

"How'd you know it was this way?" Lucy asks while the two teens walked into the kitchen and immediately hitting the pantry that was surprisingly well stocked.

"My dad says I have the nose of a blood hound," Natsu says sheepishly while scratching the back of his head with embarrassment.

This news made Lucy feel suddenly self-conscious as she wondered if she smelled bad since she hadn't showered in a while. Natsu didn't make any mention of it, but that didn't make Lucy feel any better.

Finally letting go of one another's hands, the teenager then rummaged through the kitchen to find any interesting food that they could take with them. Lucy was over the moon when she realized how much food they could stuff inside Natsu's backpack when before she used to have to use a stolen blanket to carry her spoils in.

Lucy began to wonder if there was a coincidence that Natsu was here. She wondered if some innate force caused them both to get trapped in this place together. It left her feeling hope that they would someday get out of this place, and Lucy's gut told her that it would probably be soon.

The thought thrilled Lucy. She couldn't wait to see the sky again. To see trees, birds, houses, cars, her own home, and even her dad. Lucy thought over of what Natsu had said about giving Jude a push to get him to acknowledge her, and where before she would have never dared to dream of doing such a thing she now had the conviction to take the first step.

She had waited less than a decade for Jude to finally acknowledge her presence, and she would wait no more.

"Are you ready to go?" Lucy asks once they had raided the entire kitchen and stuffed as much food as they could into Natsu's backpack.

"Yup," Natsu says while stuffing a slice of bread into his mouth and chewing loudly while zipping up his backpack.

He shrugs on the backpack and follows Lucy out into the hallway that was completely different from the one they had used to enter the kitchen. This hallway also had different colored walls that were a light grey instead of the dark mahogany. These walls were also lined with various sized picture frames instead of the strange portraits that lined the other hallways.

"Who is that?" Natsu points to a portrait of a group of children and two adults standing on either side of the group.

* * *

"That is Jose Porla," Juvia says while pointing at her laptop monitor to the black and white image of a creepy looking man standing beside a group of kids, "He was the last owner of the Phantom Lord estate who donated a lot of his money to charity as well as building an orphanage close to his home," Juvia explains while scrolling down the website that she had gotten this information from.

"That's interesting and all, but what does this have anything to do with finding Natsu?" Gray asks while passing out drinks to his friends who were all huddled in his basement.

"This all seems like a waste of time to me," Lyon, Gray's older brother, sighs while snatching up a soda from Gray's hand and jumping out of the way before Gray could land a hit on him.

"Shut up Lyon," is Gray's only answer before he goes back to attending his guests, "How's Metallicana doing by the way?" he then asks Gajeel whose scowl was deeper than ever.

"He hasn't slept all night. Even closed the shop and bar until further notice," Gajeel grunts, "He's currently out with the police searching the place."

"My dad is also out there searching," Cana says while taking a swig of her soda, forgoing alcohol for the day.

"My mom and dad are out there also," Gray says while putting down the remaining drinks on a nearby coffee table, "So how is old Porla relevant again?" he then asks while directing his attention back to Juvia who was typing furiously away at her laptop.

"Because in order to find a way to get Natsu back, we need to find out as much as possible on the house, starting with the owner," Laxus says from his seat on the couch behind Juvia where he was watching her search intently, "We need to learn its secrets to get Natsu out, or else he'll be lost in there forever."

Everyone turns to look at Laxus curiously while he ignored them and read an article over Juvia's shoulder that she had opened up.

"How do you know this?" Gajeel then asks him, but Laxus doesn't answer. He simply takes a sip of his drink and continuing to look at Juvia's computer.

No one presses for him to explain why he believed they needed to learn so much information about the manor. They all knew Laxus, and if he set his mind to not say anything to them he would not budge. Mirajane assured everyone that Laxus would eventually tell them all what he knew when he was ready to tell them. In the meantime they would all have to wait even when this annoyed everyone who wanted to help get Natsu back as soon as possible.

Laxus had always been a rather quiet person and was friends with Gray's older sister Ultear. He only started hanging out with them shortly after he and Mirajane started dating, not that Laxus ever complained.

He would never admit it, but he rather enjoyed the company of his girlfriend's crazy friends, which was why he was going to do everything to help them find Natsu. He didn't want history to repeat itself.

"So why is this information important again?" Cana asks while lying on the floor and munching on Doritos she had stolen from the pantry.

"Because of the stories," Juvia says without tearing her eyes away from her laptop's screen, still typing away furiously at her keyboard.

Juvia's entire screen was filled with opened links to searches that all related to the Phantom Lord manor. Many were news reports that dated back to when the manor was first erected all the way to the myths and legends surrounding the old place.

No one understood what it was that Juvia was looking for, only that it had to be whatever connected the manor with their friend's disappearance; however, when Juvia mentioned "stories" everyone's collective thought went over to Gray's story that he had told them only a few days ago. They all began to wonder if his story was real rather than a tall tale

"You're going to use ghost stories to find our cousin?" Jellal then asks with slight disbelief, "No offence Juv, but I don't think this is the way to go. What are fictional stories going to do to help us find Natsu?"

""There is always some truth to the stories that are told and passed around, no matter how bizarre they might seem,"" Juvia mutters, quoting her uncle Igneel who adored to tell the kids all sorts of crazy stories.

He was the reason all of them had a deep fascination with ghost stories, mythology, and lore. Igneel had said Christabel had been the one to introduce him to story-telling and so he had made it a point to share his love for the occult to his nieces and nephews along with their friends.

"So you mean that the story about the missing girl is true?" Gray asks incredulously and causing everyone in the room to jump, "The one I told you all only a few days ago?"

Everyone sits up straight in their seats and look at one another with worry in their eyes. They all wonder what Juvia's answer is going to be while she finally looks away from her computer to stare at everyone around her. Her eyes then lock with Laxus' whose jaw clenches at the mention of the story and everyone notices the reaction to be a strange one since Laxus hadn't been there when Gray told the story.

"Are you guys telling ghost stories in here?" someone asks at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the first floor and everyone turns to find Ultear standing at the doorway looking amused at all the teenagers congregated in her parent's basement, "Seriously guys, Halloween already passed. We should be getting into the holiday cheer!" she chuckles while leaning her shoulder on the doorframe.

"Now's really not the time for your sarcastic jibing," Lyon says while giving his older sister an unamused look.

"Come now Lyon, don't be so glum," Ultear giggles while looking over at her youngest brother who was also giving her an unamused look that matched Lyon's, "And what story were you talking about?"

"It was that dumb ghost story I heard a few upperclassmen talking about in the hallways the other day. It was just a story about a girl who disappeared in the Phantom Lord manor, but that's all it was, a story," Gray says while crossing his arms.

Ultear gives him a confused look and turns to look at the others who are confused at her reaction. She then locks eyes with Laxus and Jellal who stare back at her passively while Ultear continues to look confused.

"Wait... are... are you telling me you guys don't remember?" Ultear asks, and when no one gives her an answer and only stare dumbly at her she turns and rushes up the stairs without another word.

* * *

**So September has felt like the longest month of my life lol. I'm so happy it's October now! Spooky season is my favorite season and it's also my birthday month!**

**Anywho, how have you been my lovelies? I myself have been rather busy with school, work, and life. For the past month I've been working on a project that I can finally announce today! I've opened up an Etsy store along with a friend of mine! ****I'll be selling handmade jewelry if any of you are interested in supporting me. My store is called Geek It Charms in case you want to check us out. We're currently selling a few things I made for Soul Eater and Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun. You can follow our social media on Facebook and Instagram for updates and promotions. If we do good this month, we'll hopefully be doing a giveaway in November, but more info on the way.**

**Other than that, I'll hopefully be updating regularly and if things don't get out of hand we'll be finishing up Paranormal before the year ends.**

**Shout outs**

**Great amazing thanks to my Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- Amanny = *evil giggle* Oh yes.**

**\- stranger1999 = I'm happy to hear you were thinking about my story! I'm hoping you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for being so patient with me T^T**

**\- shootingstarssel = More people apparently know things O.o I'm also happy you enjoyed my little Nalu moment. Nalu moments are my favorite to write, but angst is my mistress who doesn't like to be ignored lol.**

**\- Meow Orbit = I'm sorry I took too long again to update, but I had reasons and I'm back now!**

**\- Xfangirl123X = I'm so happy to hear you're enjoying my story! That question will actually be answered in either the next chapter or the following chapter, so not too long from now. **

**Well that's all the shout outs for today!**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	13. Chapter 12

"It's getting late," Lucy says when they turn another corner and find only doors with brass doorknobs lining the walls which she shines with Natsu's flashlight to see better in the dimly lit hallway, "If we don't find a safe room soon we're doomed," she says while continuing to lead Natsu through the endless hallways while he follows close behind and keeping a tight hold on her hand.

He shivers a bit when he notices that the temperature is beginning to drop, but thankfully his natural body heat keeps him relatively warm. He instinctively tries to untangle his cloak from his backpack but then remembers he had given it to Lucy just before they had left the kitchen. He'd seen her shivering and although she hadn't complained about the temperature, he had given her his cloak anyway. Lucy had accepted it with a grateful smile and enjoyed how warm it was and how nice it smelled. Like cinnamon and a warm fire.

"Do we still have time to keep looking?" Natsu asks, beginning to grow worried that they weren't going to find the safe room before the monsters returned.

"Yeah, just not a lot," Lucy sighs tiredly while continuing to walk and search the doorknobs with their flashlight, "But thankfully once we do find it we can stay in there for some time before our food runs out and we need to come back out again," she then says with a chipper tone.

Natsu nods but starts to wonder if that's how their life was going to be now? Were they going to hide out in a room and come out occasionally for food for the entire time they're here waiting to be rescued, or were they eventually going to plan on how to escape this place? Natsu didn't mind being stuck here with Lucy, he rather liked the girl's company, but he knew they couldn't be stuck in here forever. Igneel and his family were waiting for him outside along with his friends, and Lucy had her own family and friend to go back to.

They needed to start planning their escape.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

"So, Magnolia tech," Natsu says, remembering their short conversation about their schools from earlier, "That's a really hard school to get into."

"Is it really?" Lucy asks while looking up at the pinkette walking beside her, "Did you try to get in?"

"Me? Nope, I'd never be able to afford going to Magnolia tech, nor would I have passed their entrance exam. I hear it's extremely difficult. My friend Levy couldn't pass it, and she's the smartest person I know," Natsu says while remembering how devastated Levy had been when she had found out she had missed the test by a point to get into Magnolia tech with a scholarship.

Levy said it didn't bother her anymore, but Natsu knew well enough that the girl was still heartbroken about not making it into the prestigious high school. The only other way that she'd be able to get in was if her parents could buy her a seat at the private school, but her parents were teachers whose paycheck could never afford Magnolia tech's expensive tuition.

"I almost didn't pass it myself," Lucy admits, feeling a hundred times better knowing that she wasn't the only one who had trouble with the exam.

She had also failed it the first time she had taken it, but after her father spoke to a few people and made a hefty donation she was permitted to take the exam again. She only passed it the second time due to the questions being relatively the same. Lucy was still jealous at the fact that Macbeth and the others had passed their exams with high scores. In fact, Macbeth had aced his exam with flying colors while the others had only missed a few questions.

"Did you retake the exam?" Natsu asks, surprised because he knew that there was a fee that students needed to pay in order to be able to take the exam again. A fee Levy wasn't able to pay for even after everyone had suggested to pitch in to help her.

"Yeah, but it took a while before I was allowed to retake it," Lucy says, careful not to say how it was she was allowed to retake the exam.

One thing that Lucy did not like to do was talk about her father's money. It was the reason she didn't like to introduce herself with her last name because of the weight it held. In fact, if it wasn't for her family name there probably would have been no way that Sorano would have allowed her to hang out with the group.

Thinking of Sorano brings back an anxious feeling at the pit of her stomach and memories of the night that caused her to end up here. Lucy then realizes that if it hadn't been for her own fear of being abandoned by Macbeth because of Sorano Lucy wouldn't have ended up in this place. If she hadn't allowed herself to be peer-pressured she'd be home and safe.

Perhaps Macbeth would have stopped being her friend, or maybe not. Lucy still would have been bullied at Magnolia tech, but maybe then her father would have let her move to Fairy Tail and then she could have met Natsu earlier. They probably could have become friends a year ago and then this whole mess could have never happened.

Shaking her head, Lucy tries to keep from thinking on it anymore. She'd dig herself into a dark hole like the one she had been in when she first got here. She didn't need to focus on that anymore. What she needed to focus on was finding a safe room and soon.

"So what does your dad do?" Lucy then asks, wanting to stray away from academics, but realizing too late that by her asking about Natsu's father's job it would only be natural for him to ask the same question. Lucy mentally kicks herself for not realizing this earlier.

Then again, whatever topic they talked about, her family's business would somehow find a way to worm itself into the conversation.

"My dad is a firefighter," Natsu answers with a proud smile, lighting up his face, "He worked at the southern station near Fairy Tail."

"Worked?" Lucy then asks, remembering that Natsu had said that only his mother had passed away and he was living with his dad. Also, he had claimed that his dad was a firefighter but talked about him working at a certain station in the past tense.

Tensing up, Natsu realizes his mistake and instantly feels self-conscious talking about his dad. He had gotten so used to people knowing that Igneel was in a coma that he forgot there were still people out there who didn't know.

"Um... Igneel isn't currently working at the moment," Natsu says nervously while scratching his chin and averting his eyes.

"Did he get hurt?" Lucy then asks, knowing that firefighters were always in dangerous situations and their lives were constantly at risk.

"He's in a coma," Natsu says sullenly, unable to keep up a happy attitude when remembering the crash and how he almost lost his father, "He got hit by a drunk driver a few months ago and hasn't woken up since."

"That's horrible," Lucy exclaims and tightens her hold on Natsu's hand, "I'm sure that he's going to be ok. Maybe he'll even be awake by the time we get out of here soon," Lucy urges while trying to comfort her friend.

Natsu gives her a thankful smile and continue to walk through the hallways without speaking much to both teenager's delight. They were already worn out and wanted nothing more than to find the safe room to sleep for a hundred years.

It isn't long, however, before their quiet peaceful walk becomes a daunting one. No matter how many corners they turn, how many stairs they take, or how many times they backtrack into new locations, they only find brass doorknobs. There was no sign of a golden doorknob to be found and this causes the two teenagers to become antsy with the hours ticking away and the air growing heavy around them little by little.

"This isn't right," Lucy mutters when they stop at their fifth dead end, "We should have found a safe room by now," she sighs with frustration while pushing her bangs away with her free hand and tightening her hold on Natsu with her other hand.

It gives her little relief that she isn't alone in this place and now has someone to depend on other than herself. Natsu's presence keeps Lucy from panicking while they turn and go back the way they came from to continue searching for a safe room, but soon there is a loud sound reverberating throughout all of the hallways that causes the teens to freeze in place.

The sound of what appears to be a gong rings through the hallways making it hard to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. Natsu winces from how loud the gong is which hurts his sensitive ears while Lucy stands frozen in the middle of the hallway with an expression of doom on her face. It causes panic to knot Natsu's stomach which only tightens when he realizes why it was that Lucy was so scared.

Nighttime was upon them.

"We have to get out of this hallway," Lucy whispers when the gong finally finishes chiming and doesn't wait for Natsu's response before pulling his arm and racing up the hall towards the closest corner they can turn.

Natsu then realizes that they indeed needed to get out of this hallway because behind them the dead end they had bumped into earlier was still there. If the creatures found them there, they would not be able to escape. They would probably be forced to enter one of the nightmare rooms in order to escape the dolls.

"Hurry!" Lucy urges Natsu, and he proceeds to quicken his pace when he realizes that the corner was getting closer, but they would not make it in time.

From around the corner, a giant doll's head with wide eyes and sharp teeth pops through, preventing Lucy and Natsu from running past it. They back up before the floating doll head, which both teenagers realized had no body, could take a bit out of them. The doll looked even more horrifying when Lucy shined the bright light directly at the doll who was not disturbed by the sudden brightness.

~pLaY wItH uS~

The giant head groans while it slowly inched towards the teens, its eyes shifting around its eye sockets like a chameleons before landing on Natsu and Lucy.

"Run!" Lucy shrieks and they both turn the way they had come from, but crash into a wall that hadn't been this close before. "No, no, NO!" Lucy cries while slamming her fist into the wall desperately.

"Maybe if we distract it we can find a way around it," Natsu suggest while watching the giant head slowly make its way towards them. It didn't seem to be as fast as the dolls from the previous night which meant that they could probably dodge around it if they were quick enough.

Unfortunately, the noise they were making must have attracted the other monsters that were nearby because now the giant head was surrounded by the familiar tangle of dolls. Only this time they had found a way to untangle themselves and were now able to scatter themselves making it impossible to escape around them.

"Shit!" Natsu curses while searching around to try to find a way out, but all he finds are the dolls snickering at them from a few feet away and an unobstructed door to his left. "Hold on!" Natsu yells while scooping Lucy into his arm and diving for the door just as the first doll flies to grab him.

Natsu pushes Lucy's head down just as the tiny clown marionette doll's claw-like hands gets close to his face while Lucy yells indignantly. He then head-butts the doll away, causing it to crash into the wall behind them with a screech, but not before the doll could nick the right side of his jaw.

Keeping Lucy tightly held close to him with his right arm. Natsu grabs onto the doorknob and opens the door just as the dolls ascended on them in a giant wave. Thankfully Natsu is able to jump into the room with Lucy still held tight in his arm as he then shuts the door tightly behind them.

Like the safe room, they could no longer hear what was going on outside the door as if the room they were in was sound-proof. It left them panting and waiting in a deafening silence while they tried to catch their breath and calm their racing hearts.

"You… you're bleeding," Lucy stammers, completely shaken at the feeling of something sticky on her fingers when she tries to assess Natsu's face in the darkness.

Natsu winces when Lucy prods a little too aggressively at his wound and earns a sheepish, "Sorry," from the blonde who was now trying to dab up the blood with the bottom of his cloak, "Does it hurt?" Lucy then asks tentatively while trying to search for the boy's eyes in the darkness, but she couldn't see a thing which only made her heartbeat quicken.

She hated the nightmare rooms. She hated the darkness, because at least out in the hallway there was enough light to see the monsters, but the rooms were always filled with darkness that hid the nightmares from her. Hid them until they finally popped out to torment her for as long as she remained in the room.

"It's so dark in here," Natsu complains, "Where's the flashlight when you need it?"

The heat in Lucy's face drains when she realizes that she had dropped the flashlight outside when Natsu had pushed her head down. She hadn't realized then that she had lost her grip on their only source of light and now when they needed it the most it was gone.

"I dropped it," Lucy whines while burying her face into what she hopes is Natsu shoulder, "I'm sorry," she then apologizes profusely while tensing up, ready for the angry yelling to start.

Natsu isn't blind at the way her hand tightens its hold on his vest or the way she tenses up. It reminds him of his cousin Wendy who would the same every time she was scared of getting in trouble, only Lucy's reaction felt worse than Wendy's. This made Natsu wonder even more just how difficult Lucy's life was outside of this hell.

Was that why she was able to survive this place this long? Because the nightmares back home were about the same as those here?

"Hey, it's alright. It was an accident," Natsu comforts the blonde while hugging her back soothingly, "I'd rather the flashlight to have been left behind than you."

Both their faces burn at Natsu's comment as the teen instantly berates himself for sounding so corny. Lucy appreciates his comfort and thanks him for helping her feel better. Natsu even smiles widely when he feels Lucy calm down in his arms.

Their breath then hitches when they hear a soft click nearby before the room is engulfed in a weird white light. It takes a minute before Lucy's and Natsu's eyes can adjust before they are finally able to see relatively well in the weirdly lit room. Looking around, Natsu finds an old television to be the cause of the sudden light that bathes the room in a dull white glow that barely illuminates anything.

On the screen all they can see is the familiar white static that also fills their ears and makes them tense up. Natsu is suddenly reminded of the dream he had of Lucy standing in his living room with her eyes gauged out and the television illuminating the room with it's terrifying staticky light. This memory causes to look down at Lucy and pray that her eyes were not gauged out like he remembered them in his dream but is relieved to find her looking up fearfully at him with her normal chocolate eyes.

Natsu internally sighs in relief and turns to check out the room that seemed to only have the old box television sitting in the middle of the room. Across from the television, pressed up against the wall, there is a long-withered couch with springs popping out from some of the seats and shaggy carpet that feels moldy underneath them lined the floors. The room smells moldy and stale, as if it hasn't been aired out in centuries and it begins to make Natsu's nose itch and his head to slightly hurt.

"It smells bad here," Natsu grumbles while wrinkling his nose.

"You get used to the smell after a while," Lucy sighs while checking his injury more closely now that they had more light.

There was far more blood than she had expected making the cut look more severe than it really was. Lucy wiped as much of it as she could with the bottom of the cloak and a bit of water she soaks the cloth with to finish cleaning Natsu's face.

"Lucy I'm fine," Natsu eventually grumbles while pulling her trembling hands away from his face, "It's just a scratch."

Lucy pouts, but stops fussing as Natsu stands up and helps her to her feet.

They remain close to each other as they look around the nearly empty room wondering what to do. They couldn't yet go outside in case the hallways hadn't shifted around and their pursuers were still waiting outside for them. So far it seemed that this was the safest place to be in and if all they had to deal with was a strange staticky television from the _Poltergeist_, they would take it.

Feeling a bit braver with the lack of activity, both teens finally allow themselves to walk around the room to investigate; however, there really wasn't much to investigate. The walls, covered in peeling blue wallpaper, were bare, with no windows or other doors decorating them. No pictures, except one above the couch, decorated the walls.

It was a grimy family portrait that had three people in it. Two adults and a small child sitting on a large ornate chair, but the faces were so worn out that you couldn't really distinguish the people. Still, even with the portrait heavily damaged Lucy felt like it was familiar. Like she had seen it before, she just couldn't remember from where until it finally clicks.

"This is _my_ room," Lucy whispers while she traces her finger down the ruined portrait's leathery canvas.

"Your room?" Natsu asks from across the room, confused as to how this was her room. Was this how her actual room looked outside of the manor?

"My nightmare room," Lucy explains, "Every nightmare room I've ever been has always been filled with some element connected to my life. Like, a few nights ago the room I had to escape into replayed the day of my mother's funeral, only everyone at the funeral kept blaming me for her death and they didn't have faces. Another room tried to show me my unborn baby sister who was crying in a crib I didn't dare look inside of, or a library filled with flying books that yelled at me in my father's voice."

Natsu pales at the vague yet disturbing explanations of the rooms Lucy has been in. Natsu now hoped that if they never had to enter a room filled with _his_ nightmares. He'd had enough of those for the past few months to last him a lifetime, and he felt that the nightmares in this place would be a hundred times worse.

"We should probably leave then before anything really starts up," Natsu suggests while already making his way towards the door, but when he tries to open it he finds that it's locked.

"It's already begun," Lucy whispers while still staring at the portrait she now recognizes as the one her family took before Layla and her unborn sister Michelle passed away, "There is no way out until morning."

A click like the sound of a channel changing, causes Natsu and Lucy to jump and turn towards the television where there seemed to be something coming through. Snippets of color and distorted sounds came through in short bursts, as if the television was trying grasp onto the signal that was coming through the dented antennas. The white light would suddenly be replaced with colored images that appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye. It was like listening to the radio and hearing strange distorted voices until you found the right channel to hear what was trying to go through.

Natsu walks up to the television from behind and starts to move the antenna around, catching glimpses of the image trying to go through here and there. It doesn't take long before a broken clip finally fills the screen which both teenagers recognize to be a news report.

Through the broken images, and muffled talking from the news reporter, they could make out what seemed like a search party looking through the old Phantom Lord manor with the headline reading "SEARCH CONTINUES FOR MISSING TEENAGER" with no other information being given.

"Maybe it's a combined nightmare," Natsu then says when they both get close to the television to somewhat see what the screen was showing them, "That back there looks like my friend's mom Ur. She's a cop at the local precinct," he explains while crouching down to be at eye level with the television.

It made the more sense to him that this current feed was for him because he recognized a few others helping out in the search like Silver Fullbuster, Gray's dad, Metallicana, Gildarts, and a few others from the neighborhood. Natsu then hoped that they'd be able to get out so that he could see his family and friends again soon.

"No, this one is mine," Lucy says while shaking her head, "This feed is from when I disappeared. Look!" she says while pointing to a group of kids huddled together that Natsu doesn't recognize, "Those are my friends… They're still have on the costumes they were wearing when I disappeared," she explains and

Natsu is fully convinced when he sees Igneel hobbling by dressed in his uniform and being followed by a few other firefighters while he cries out and points, "That's my dad right there," to which Lucy is able to catch a quick glimpse of, "If he's on screen then it definitely isn't my feed."

"See, I told you," Lucy jibes while crouching down beside him to get a better look, but then the channel changes and Natsu needs to get back up to fix the antenna again.

When Natsu gets the picture to be slightly clear, he goes back to crouch beside Lucy to find another news article being broadcast. This time there wasn't a search team if not a man standing in front of the podium who looked tired and completely at a loss.

"Please, if there is any news that anyone can give us we would be most appreciative," the man says while his voice comes out slightly muffled and broken through the old television's speakers. "My daughter has been missing for some time now, and any new information would help us out a lot. If she is found I am willing to give a hefty reward. The price does not matter, so long as I can have my Lucy back home," the man continues, even looking as if he were about to cry, but is able to keep himself composed.

Lucy scoffs as she finally recognizes her father to be the man speaking on television. She had never seen him look so disorganized and beaten before. He was always well groomed with his hair slicked back and dressed in the nicest suits money could buy with no time to ever give his only daughter. This man on television was not her father and she would not be fooled by the apparent attempt of a nightmare to try and torment her further.

Her father didn't care about her. At least not enough to look so broken and lost in front of national television with all who could judge him watch and mock him for appearing so weak.

"What?" Natsu asks when he hears Lucy scoff again when the screen shows Jude begging for whoever took his daughter to bring her back home.

"That man is unbelievable," Lucy says while shaking her head and hugging her knees while she continues to crouch, "He never cared about me since my mother's and sister's passing. He would never do something he deemed so ridiculous on live television. He's too good for that," she growls, making Natsu's heart hurt for her and her obviously grieving father.

"I think he's still your dad," Natsu murmurs while turning to look back at the screen while trying to remember why the man looked so familiar, "You might think he hates you, but maybe he just hasn't learned how to move beyond his grief."

"That's what my therapist said," Lucy sighs, knowing that as much as she wanted to, she could never really hate her dad. Like Natsu said, he was her dad and she would always love him even when she was also very much angry with him.

Maybe she could convince Natsu to go with her to have a talk with her dad when they got out of here. Maybe she'd be able to find a way for them both to reconnect.

"Wait… that man is Jude Heartfilia," Natsu exclaims while pointing at Lucy's father on the screen before turning to look at Lucy, "He… he's the owner of Heartfilia Konzern Railways as well as Love&Lucky trading company… Lucy… you're a Heartfilia?!" Natsu cries out from the realization of his new friend coming from such an important family.

The Heartfilias were old money, older than the Phantom Lords, but they never settled in a single place with their influence reaching even beyond Fiore's borders; however, this wasn't why Natsu was freaking out. He had suddenly remembered something, on why Jude had looked so familiar, or even why he knew anything about the Heartfilias at all.

"I don't like talking about my family," Lucy sulks, hating that she couldn't have spent a longer time being known as a normal high school girl and not a Heartfilia, "My family name never attracts good people."

They both remain quiet with Lucy suddenly self-conscious and Natsu internally panicking. It isn't until the pressure is too much that Natsu finally takes in a deep breath to calm his nerves.

"Hey Luce," Natsu begins while his voice shakes nervously, "I have something really important to ask you," he continues in a more serious tone than his previous outburst, earning a curious and wary look from Lucy who wasn't too eager at the moment to be questioned, "When… when was it that you got trapped here?"

* * *

**So I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! We're reaching our climax, or what I believe to be the climax, in the next chapter. Things are going to get crazy as I am even more excited for the next chapter!**

**Anywho, I had wanted to post this chapter since Monday, but this past week has been a trainwreck with weird and random things just happening. Ah, you gotta love spooky season.**

**In other news, my Etsy shop is up and running in case you all are interested in checking it out. You can find the shop in Etsy's search engine at geekitcharms to see what we've got to offer. We are currently selling a few anime inspired jewelry items for Toilet Bound Hanako-Kun as well as Soul Eater, so it would mean a lot if you all checked it out. ***end of self promotion*

**Welp, I'm hoping to have chapter 13 up this weekend if I get the chance between studying for midterms, so look out for that. I'm especially excited because I've waited YEARS to get to this upcoming scene for Paranormal. Fair warning, I think it's sad lol. Then again would it even be my story if it wasn't angsty or sad?**

**Shout Outs**

**Great amazing thanks to my Fantastic Favorites...**

**\- Raquenzel**

**\- caitlinsr**

**To my Fabulous Followers...**

**\- Raquenzel**

**\- caitlinsr**

**And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- shootingstarssel = I thought that I'd be able to answer your question in this chapter, but no your question will be answered in the next chapter lol. Still, there's a lot to unpack and I know you guys will be excited to read what I am cooking up.**

**\- stranger1999 = I'm so happy you're enjoying the story and loving every chapter I give you all. As of right now I'm not too sure how many chapters there are going to be; however, I do know for a fact that it isn't going to reach my usual crazy chapter limit that my previous stories have gotten to. I am confident, however, that this story will probably end by or before New Years.**

**\- Amanny = There is no such thing as peace, not in this household at least! Lol, your questions will be answered in the next chapter, only because I really love angst and don't know how to give my characters a break haha. Anywho, I hope you're enjoying the chapters so far!**

**\- Meow Orbit = OMG! Happy early/belated birthday to you as well! And I'm so happy you're back to read and review! It always feels weird when my regulars don't comment. I appreciate you so much for continuing to stick with me *sends virtual hugs and kisses***

**Well that's all the shout outs for today.**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail_

_rEAd oN if YoU sO dArE!_

* * *

Ultear drops a couple of newspapers on the coffee table beside Juvia where she was still working. All the teenagers lounging around the room turn to look at her and then the stack of old newspapers she had brought.

"What is this?" Gray asks while reaching out and taking the newspaper at the top of the stack to investigate what his sister had brought.

The others inch closer to curiously investigate the newspapers Ultear had brought along with her. They each picked out a newspaper and investigated the headlines which all seemed to be similar to one another. The headlines were filled with information and pictures about a girl who had disappeared in the Phantom Lord manor.

"Wait, this is all about a girl who went missing here in Magnolia," Cana exclaims after she reads through her own newspaper, "Does this mean that Gray's story is real?!"

"More than you know," Laxus says while he watches the others shuffle through the newspapers and reading the familiar headlines detailing the disappearance of a young girl on Halloween night.

"But I thought it was just a story to scare kids from going into the manor. I mean, hardly anyone ever talks about this girl and her disappearance," Gray argues while staring at the black and white picture of the missing girl.

"I'm surprised you all don't remember," Ultear says while sitting on the armrest beside Laxus and crossing her arms, "It was literally all over the news. I'm more than sure the entire country knew about this girl's disappearance, especially since her family is well known throughout Fiore."

"I don't remember hearing anything about her," Lisanna admits while returning her newspaper back to the coffee table to grab another, "What about you sis?" Lisanna then asks Mirajane who was inspecting her own newspaper.

Shaking her head, Mirajane finally looks up and admits that she couldn't remember hearing anything about any disappearances.

Magnolia was a rather safe city with the only major occurrences being crashes, fires, robberies, and the occasional mugging. There weren't any cases of missing people within Magnolia as of late, and if there were Gray and his siblings would be the first to know. This being that both their parents were police officers.

"Wait, if there really was a girl who disappeared in the Phantom Lord manor, why is it that our parents never told us about it?" Lyon asks his sister who only gives him an annoyed look.

"They did tell us, but you all just don't remember," she says while tapping her foot irritably. She couldn't comprehend how it was that she and Laxus were the only ones who remembered this, "I'm actually surprised you don't seem to remember Gray." Jellal looks up at the mention of his name and gives the female a curious look, "Don't you remember going with me and Laxus up to the manor to check out the search party?"

Gray scrunches his nose in concentration and recalls a crisp morning with the sound of shouting and machinery whirring. He remembers the news reports he ignored because they were not interesting to him as he continued to live his life in that blissful bubble children lived in. He remembers his parents warning him and his siblings not to go out at night or walk around alone in case of a potential kidnapping, but he remembered nothing more.

He didn't remember the face of the girl that now stared back at him wearing a Magnolia Tech uniform who looked around their age. He didn't remember the name that filled every newspaper that was now scattered around them, nor the cautious fear his parents had tried to instill in him. He didn't remember and he didn't know why even though he knew he had really good memory.

"I'm not surprised they don't remember," Laxus finally says while sitting up and sighing, "After all, this happened-"

* * *

"A year ago..." Lucy answers with a confused look on her face, "Why?"

She didn't understand the question that Natsu had given her or why he gave her such a panicked look. It caused a lump to form in her throat and a heavy feeling grows in the pit of her stomach at the serious look Natsu gave her.

"How old are you?" Natsu then asks while keeping his eyes trained on the television where the date and time the news had broadcast this message shone on the screen.

Confused, Lucy tilts her head to the side and answers, "I'm sixteen, but I guess since it's been a year, I should be seventeen by now."

"What year did you disappear?" Natsu then asks, confusing Lucy even more.

"Seven hundred and eighty-six," Lucy answers while scrunching up her eyebrows, not knowing what it was that Natsu was getting at, "Natsu... what's going on? You're freaking me out."

Before Natsu can answer, the television changes channels again, only this time they don't need to fix the antennae for them to see the image shown on screen.

It's another news broadcast and Jude were once again on screen, but this time it was only a picture of him. In the image he looked older and more tired than he had in his live broadcast where he was asking for any news about his daughter. He looked like an old man with greying hair and worn out eyes surrounded by crow's feet and bags. The news reporter says something about Jude that Natsu does not catch before the channel is forcibly changed.

"No!" Lucy growls as she changes the channel. Rage fills her eyes while her body shakes in a way that Natsu did not recognize as fear, "Stop it!" she then demands when the news report follows her to the channel she tried to change it to, "It's a lie! It's all a lie!" she nearly screeches as she continues to change the channel, "You won't convince me that he's dead! You're just trying to get me to fall into the nightmare again, but I won't let you win!

"For the past few times some of the rooms have tried to convince me that my father has died, only because they know that my biggest nightmare is being left alone," Lucy explains to Natsu while continuing to change the channel after attempting to turn it off doesn't work, "My mother and sister are dead, I have no other family except my dad, and if he dies then I'll be completely alone in this world and they try to scare me with that fact!"

Lucy continues to switch the channels, nearly in tears, until she snaps off the television's dial with the force she uses causing for the news report to play out, detailing the sudden death of Jude Heartfilia.

"_Early this morning, multi-billionaire Jude Heartfilia of Heartfilia Konzern and Love&Lucky trading company was pronounced dead after a cardiac arrest took his life. Officials say that the stress of losing his daughter and overworking himself with managing both companies and the continued search of Lucy Heartfilia are what affected Jude's health. More news to come…"_

"I'm so sorry Lucy," Natsu murmurs while finally turning to look at Lucy who looks over at him confused, "I'm… I'm so sorry."

"Wh… why are you sorry? There's nothing for you to be sorry about Natsu. This place is just trying to get to my head again, but I won't let it win, I never do. When we get out we're going to talk to my dad and try to make things better. You'll see," Lucy says with newfound determination, but her heart falls when Natsu's pitying look grows even more mournful.

Natsu hadn't remembered the news reports about Lucy's disappearance, but he did remember this one. It had been announced to nearly the entire world that the multi-billionaire Jude Heartfilia had died of a heart attack caused by years of neglecting his health. He hadn't realized that it had been because of the stress he put himself under by trying to manage two globally renowned companies on top of searching for his daughter.

He remembered the morning he had heard the news report and the way Igneel had been so shocked and saddened at the news. It was as if Igneel had known the man personally and mourned his passing like a friend would mourn a friend, but Natsu had no recollection of his father knowing Jude Heartfilia. The news report had given the history of Jude Heartfilia and his family name that was known all around. They had also mentioned the passing of his wife and two daughters, but nothing of Lucy's disappearance. It was probably because the police had officially pronounced her dead.

"Lucy…" Natsu murmurs while taking the blonde's hands in his while trying to find the courage to tell Lucy what he had just discovered, "Lucy, Jude Heartfilia died over a year ago on May eighteenth, seven hundred and ninety-one. We are currently on the year seven hundred and ninety-two… which means…"

"That I've been stuck in here for six years…" Lucy gasps after a short moment of silence before ripping her hands out of Natsu's and shaking her head vigorously when the news finally dawns on her, "No… no, you're wrong!" she cries, tears finally streaking down her cheeks as she falls back on her back and pushes herself away from him, "You're wrong! It's only been a year! It… six years can't have passed, it's impossible!"

"No wonder I didn't remember," Natsu muses while counting backwards in his head, "I was only nine when it happened… when the news had reported your disappearance."

"No…"

"Dad hardly ever let me watch the news back then, which means I didn't hear much about your disappearance."

"Shut up."

"In fact, I don't think many of my friends even really knew about your disappearance because we were all kids in elementary…"

"Shut Up!"

"So this means that Gray's ghost story about you is true-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

Natsu turns to look at Lucy who was heaving for breath, looking both tortured and enraged as sobs wracked her body. Natsu then realizes how insensitive he was by continuing to torment Lucy by saying his thoughts aloud and regretted saying anything. Watching her break down hurt him and he wanted nothing more than to comfort her, but Lucy wouldn't let him get anywhere near her.

"It's not true, it can't be," Lucy sobs while wrapping her arms around herself, "This isn't happening."

Reaching out to try to comfort the distraught girl, Natsu suddenly freezes at a figure he sees sitting on the couch behind Lucy.

_~lU-ucC-cyY~_

Sitting up, Lucy looks directly at Natsu who continues to stare at something behind her with fear in his eyes. She then feels a hand rest on her shoulder and turns to look up and see who it was that was suddenly holding on to her. The last time they checked it had only been her and Natsu in the room.

_~LuU-C-cyY~_

Jude Heartfilia, with empty eye sockets and decomposing skin stared down at Lucy and moaned out her name. Bugs crawl all over Jude's face and a centipede even crawls out through Jude's right eye making it an even more gruesome sight. Jude looked as if he had crawled out of the ground he was buried in from how dirty and decomposed he looked.

As he attempted to talk, his voice sounded sad and broken as he continued to repeat Lucy's name who was stuck frozen staring at the zombified version of her dead father. Silent tears continued to stream down her face while she lightly shook her head as if she couldn't process what was currently going on.

_~I'm sO-oRrY lUcCYy~_

_~iT wAsN'T yoUr FaULt~_

Before Natsu can blink, Lucy slaps the zombie image of Jude Heartfilia and jumps to her feet with a cry that fills the entire room. She then turns and races to the door which she rips open and jumps out through while closing it tightly behind her abandoning Natsu and her dead father.

"Lucy!" Natsu cries out in a panic while racing to his feet so he could chase after the blonde.

_~sAvE hEr~_

The moaning voice of Jude Heartfilia cries out when Natsu finally reaches the door and turns to find Jude reaching out towards Natsu longingly.

_~pLE-eAsE NaTsU, S…sAvE hEr~_

Without a word, Natsu nods and rips the door open to find a long flight of stairs leading downward. He closes the door behind him, cutting off the still reporting news and Jude's desperate moans and starts climbing down the stairs. He prayed that he could get to Lucy in time before the dolls got to her so that they could finally figure out how to get out of here as soon as possible.

The last thing he wanted was for them to spend another day in this godforsaken place.

* * *

**So this was a rollercoaster ride. I had fun writing it and am excited to see how you all like it.**

**Next chapter we'll be going into Natsu's nightmare room, but I promise I'll be a bit more gentle with you all. We'll also find out a bit more about Lucy and why it is that so many people are interconnected with one another.**

**Shout Outs**

**Great amazing thanks to my Fantastic Favorites... **

**\- ****Silent Midnight Shadow **

**\- ****DecemberRome**

**To my Fabulous Followers...**

**\- luxaline**

**\- ****Silent Midnight Shadow **

**\- DecemberRome**

**And to my Fantabulous Reviewers...**

**\- shootingstarssel = Well I know for sure this chapter answered one of your questions. Next chapter will hopefully clear up more questions that revolve around Lucy and the connection she has with Natsu and those he knows.**

**\- Xfangirl123X = I'm glad you liked the chapter and hopefully this one was also to your taste. I also think I captured Lucy's reaction quite well with finding out she's been stuck in limbo for six years. I know I would definitely freak out.**

**\- stranger1999 = I hope this chapter answered your last question. Jude Heartfilia's death had been all over the news when Natsu was thirteen thus giving him all the information he knows about the Heartfilias. Igneel knows Jude because he had helped out with the search party when Lucy first went missing years prior.**

**\- Amanny = No one ages in Limbo/Purgatory where time is simply and illusion~**

**\- Meow Orbit = I felt that on a spiritual level! With the pandemic I got lazy I didn't want to write, but with a current routine that I'm finally getting used to again I feel like I'm more motivated to write more.**

**\- ****DecemberRome = I legit thought you had already followed and favorited also and when you did it recently I was like "Wait a minute, she hadn't been following my story?!" but it's all good hon. Hope you're enjoying the angst!**

**Well that's all the shout outs for today!**

**If you're enjoying my spine-chilling story give me the honor by Following, Favoriting, and Reviewing - remember, reviews are the reminders I need in order to update faster - and if you have any questions or haunting ideas you can also PM me and I'll gladly add it into the story.**

**Until next time my ghoulies!**


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